


Surviving, Evolving: The Caves

by nevermore64



Series: Rayne's Explorer Notes [2]
Category: ARK: Survival Evolved
Genre: Adventure, Angst, Diary/Journal, Dinosaur Battles, Dinosaurs, Exploring, Gen, MORE DINO FRIENDS!, Survival
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-09
Updated: 2020-03-24
Packaged: 2020-08-13 10:53:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 18
Words: 39,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20173051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nevermore64/pseuds/nevermore64
Summary: After a harrowing encounter, Rayne must decide whether she should dig in and pray for an end to the madness, or go exploring in the wild lands of the Ark, in hopes of finding the mysterious caves that hold artifacts that may lead her to answers.





	1. Entry 16: To Kill a Ghost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All of Rayne's skills are put to the test when a monster arrives at her home.
> 
> Just a second warning, the story gets violent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta by Muttsley. Thanks so much Muttsley!

Ghost is dead. I sincerely thought I’d be dead within the hour, but I’m not. I’m not because every single one of my friends threw themselves against a raging monster even after I ordered most of them to retreat. Why didn’t they leave? They could have gone back to living wild. They’d have been okay. But instead, they risked their necks to protect me and our home. All I can really feel right now is a searing hatred for this whole situation, along with cold, numbing, guilt. Why is this happening to me?

That horrible freak is dead, but he took too many of my friends with him. I don’t think I can keep going. I can’t keep putting myself in danger if it's just getting these animals hurt or killed. My chest hurts. It hurts far worse than just my broken ribs. I ordered some of you to run. Why did you come back?

It’s taking everything I’ve got to keep it together. I’m fighting the urge to run back outside and start beating on Ghost’s corpse until nothing is left. But I have to tell my tale. My ribs are cracked, my mouth is bleeding from the tooth I lost, my head is spinning from a concussion, one of my pinkies is broken, and my whole body hurts, but I’m going to document what happened, if only to honor the friends. I owe them that much at least.

It began early in the morning. Much earlier than I’m used to waking up. I was wrenched from my sleep by powerful roars coming from somewhere outside my walls. My heart dropped and terror gripped me like a cold vice. I ignored it, ripped myself out of bed, and grabbed as much of my armor and equipment as I could as I sprinted outside.

The sun had only just begun to rise. I could only make out the shadowy outline of a monstrous figure standing meters from my house. At first I breathed a sigh of relief, because I recognized that silhouette. It was Lindsay the Spinosaurus. I tried to call out to her, but she ignored me. She took a deep breath, and let out another earsplitting roar. I’d never seen this behavior before. I was confused and more than a little afraid. What was she doing?

As her roar finally tuckered out, and I removed my hands from my ears, I felt my stomach drop. After a brief moment of silence, another roar sounded off from somewhere far to the East. A roar I recognized. A roar I prayed I’d never hear again. Ghost.

Lindsay was trying to warn away a rival predator. She didn’t realize Ghost wasn't a normal T-Rex. Her threats were a challenge to him. She would lead him straight to us. I tried to call to her again, but she just kept roaring into the distance. Based on the sound, he wasn’t far. I had maybe fifteen minutes to figure out what to do. I got all my best gear equipped and all my best weapons ready. I’d used up most of my arrows in the last fight with Ghost. I had few projectiles left. I couldn’t possibly engage him in a melee.

Should we run? Where would we go? West would lead straight into the jaws of the other two Rexes. North took us into those swamps. Even if we did run, Lindsay wouldn’t follow. I didn’t want to leave her here to face Ghost alone.

No. We would stand our ground. Ghost wasn’t going to chase us from our home. Me and the Raptors had done significant damage to him on our own. There was no way he could stand up to us as well as Lindsay, Samson, Iggy, and the Dilos. I whistled and yelled commands to all my fighters. It was a bit chaotic at first. The roars being exchanged had everyone in a tizzy. But when my whistles pierced the early morning air, they all came running. The non-combatants, Snugglebug, Petey, Paula, Gracie, Jack, and Joey I sent to the West around the cliff and out of sight. They wouldn’t get too close to the other Rexes, and they’d be safe from the fighting there. I even kicked the door to the Dodo pen open and shouted at them to move. Predictably, their only response was a terrified “bork?” before they piled into the little Dodo house I made for them. I was out of time. Another thunderous roar pierced the morning.

I whistled my commands and grabbed what I could before charging to the top of the hill to await the monster’s arrival. I stood a few meters next to Lindsay who kept her eyes fixed on the forest on the other side of the river. The Raptors were at my side moments later, chirping nervously to one another. Samson came next, looking stoic as ever, and last came Iggy. He looked terrified. I ran to him and hugged his head, whispering reassurances to him. He had part of his saddle on. I decided I would ride him today. The Raptors would be more effective if all six of them were on the offensive. I would command them from the Iguanodon's back. I had to get the rest of his saddle. I yelled at everyone to stay put before sprinting towards the house. I dug out the rest of Iggy’s saddle and ran outside, but as I reached the doorway, my heart sank like a stone. Lindsay, after sparing us one final glance, turned away and bounded towards the sea.

I can’t even describe the hurt I felt as I watched her go. All my fears were realized. I never reached her. She was never my friend. She was simply tolerating our presence. She wasn’t prepared to risk her life for us. I called out to her desperately, but she ignored me. I fell to my knees as she slinked into the water and slipped beneath the tiny waves.

A final roar roused me from my stupor. Ghost was minutes away. I tried to shut off all my emotions. I needed to be calculating if we were going to have any chance of making it through this. First, I needed to leave one final message in my journal. I ran back in. I wrote what I expected would be a goodbye. Then I ran back out to meet my fate.

I got Iggy’s saddle on and secure right as Ghost burst from the tree line. He looked even more horrible than I remember. His body was even more caked with dirt, blood, and viscera. Many of my arrows were still lodged in his flesh. The sun rose, illuminating him further, all bone-white and blood-red. He looked like some horrid, undead, fiend, conjured from an eldritch abyss. He peered about, before spotting us standing together on the hill. I swear for a moment he locked eyes with me specifically. I imagined he was thinking “Found you.”

I jumped onto Iggy and frantically began whistling commands. Ghost was weirdly calm. He’d found his target. He calmly began walking across the river. I whistled and let out a roar. Following my lead, my friends let out war cries of their own. That cacophony of battle cries didn’t phase the demon. He stomped up our beach, turned towards us and let out a roar so powerful it drowned out all the noise we were making. Not even the Obelisks made me feel so small and vulnerable. Seconds later… the battle began.

Samson stepped forward first, horns lowered, and feet stomping. His message was clear. To get to me, Ghost would have to get through him first. The Raptors I ordered to circle around to look for an opening. They would use the same hit-and- run tactics we used on him before. Me and Iggy would hang back for now, so I could fire what arrows I had left.

I thought things were going smooth. Samson and Ghost circled about, seeking an opening on one another’s defenses, occasionally lunging. Every time they did I felt my heart stop. The Raptors and I peppered the Rex with whatever damage we could. But Ghost wasn’t just powerful. He’s way more intelligent than I gave him credit for. He remembered our last battle.

It happened fast. One second Samson was lunging forward, trying to push the predator back, but a snap from his massive jaws forced Samson to retreat a few steps. I whistled for the Raptors to make a move. Pigeon, responded, sprinting right at Ghost’s unguarded thigh… and Ghost dodged him. He shifted and stepped to the side right as Pigeon leapt. He went flying passed Ghost’s leg and landed in the sand, right under his chin. Ghost easily readjusted and lunged as Pigeon tried to regroup and sprint away. But Ghost was too quick. He caught the Raptor in his jaws. All the dread I’d been feeling finally became an awful reality. I screamed in rage and denial, but there was nothing I could do.

Ghost proved to me right then and there that his finding us was no accident. He’d come for revenge. He could have sought out easier prey. He could have gone wherever he wanted. But instead he followed us. He didn’t just kill Pigeon. For an agonizingly long time, he tortured him and he made all of us watch. Pigeon fought for his life and shrieked in terror and agony, but I knew there’d be no saving him when those jaws first closed. I whistled, and I cried. The other Raptors bit and clawed at his legs, Samson tried to charge, I fired every arrow I had, and when they were gone, I kicked Iggy and forced him to charge into the fray. I tried to make the monster stop. But it was like he’d stopped caring about the rest of us. The only one he bothered to keep an eye on was Samson. Otherwise, he just stood there, lightly chewing on my friend. He seemed to be in a state of euphoric bliss as he wetly crunched the last of Pigeon’s life out of him. Then, with a flick of his head, he tossed the broken Raptor aside like a piece of trash.

For a few seconds, I almost whistled the retreat. I was overcome by horror. I’ve never felt fear like this. Even when Crow was trying to kill me, I felt a strange sort of… fearful acceptance. Crow was a hungry predator and he was going to try to kill me. Scary, but expected. Ghost on the other hand, wasn’t just here to kill us. He was here to torture every single one of us. For just a few seconds, I couldn’t handle that. Then Hawk unleashed a mournful shriek. I joined her in her howl. It helped me remember the other emotion I had. Rage.

This thing thinks I’m going to let it get away with torturing my friend to death? “Samson!” I shouted. “Charge NOW!” Samson did as he was told. “RAPTORS! EVERYONE CHARGE NOW!” Chaos ensued. The combined attack of all the Raptors along with Samson’s charge upset Ghost’s balance. Even Iggy and I joined the fray by charging in and ramming into his leg. I jammed my spear as deep as I could.

We pushed him back a few feet, before he regained his balance and turned his attention towards Samson, who was readying another charge. I rode Iggy right towards him. I’ll never get used to that. Why would anyone ride TOWARDS an animal that size? I think I’d lost my mind a little.

I jammed my spear right into his chin, just to get his attention. With an angry snarl he turned toward Iggy and I… just in time for Samson to charge beneath him and drive one of his horns up into his chest. I roared in triumph. A wound like that would have crippled any normal beast. Ghost wasn’t normal. Getting stabbed right below the clavicle just pissed him off. He started to stomp and thrash. Sand flew in all directions. I whistled for my Raptors to retreat, so they wouldn’t get stomped on. Ghost started swinging his upper body around, dislodging Samson’s horn. I had to get Iggy to back off. The sand was in my eyes. I knew from the roars and stomps that Ghost and Samson were engaging one another.

When I could finally see again, the pair were almost wrestling each other. Samson had gotten his head under Ghost's upper body. He was jabbing upwards in every direction. I could tell by the blood everywhere that he was doing serious damage, but still, the monster wouldn’t slow down. Ghost leaned away, winding his massive head up for a mighty swing. He hit my friend like a goddamn wrecking ball. The mighty Trike was knocked clean off his feet. He landed on his side in the sand, stunned. I expected Ghost to move in for the kill, but apparently Samson wasn’t the one he was after. With the Trike incapacitated he turned towards Iggy and I. I finally got a good look at the side of him Samson had attacked. Those wounds should have killed him. Flesh was torn, blood flowed, and organs and bone were visible. He was completely unphased. He snarled at me and came charging.

I was a few seconds too late on the call. I was trying to wrap my head around how this monster was still on his feet when I could freaking see his bare ribcage. Iggy and I took off up the beach. If we’d moved a little sooner, we may have gained enough momentum to escape, but as it was, Ghost managed to catch us. He used his head again. I’d been in one or two car accidents in my life. The impact was very much akin to one. This massive force hit Iggy hard enough to give me whiplash, and the next thing I knew, we were both airborne. When we hit the ground, my skull collided with Iggy’s, and for the next few moments, everything went black. I was only out for a few seconds, but it was all the time Ghost needed to break me. When I came too, I was on my back in the sand. In front of me was Iggy’s face, his eyes panicked, his jaw hanging open. I tried to reach out to him, but then the rest of my vision swam back into full clarity. I let out a wail when I saw Iggy’s head was dangling from Ghost’s cruel jaws. He held it right above me, blood raining down on me. The rest of Iggy’s body lay in a heap beside me.

Ghost was clearly enjoying himself. He dropped my friend’s severed head next to me. He growled as he opened his maw and his rank, corpse-y breath washed over me. He lowered himself slowly, giving me a clear view of where he was about to send me. I was still too dazed to do anything to stop him.

Hawk and Crow saved my life. They both leapt onto Ghost’s back. Their assault actually made him forget about me, and soon he was shaking and spinning and stomping up the beach, trying to dislodge the Raptors. I got myself back to my knees and tried desperately to stabilize my vision. I almost choked, on something. I coughed the object into my hand along with an alarming amount of blood. It was one of my teeth. There was more blood gushing from my nose. I’d hit my head hard. Was I concussed? Should I run? Should I keep fighting? Fight or flight?

When my friends are in danger, its always “fight.” I hoisted myself to my feet. I was able to find my spear and my pickaxe. The rest of my equipment was still with Iggy. I’m sorry Iggy. I’m so sorry. With effort I got myself going. I tucked my pickaxe away and brandished my spear as moved towards the stomping thrashing demon-beast. Ghost managed to hurl Crow off of himself. The Raptor landed in the water. I stopped when I saw something familiar: a flash of fiery orange beneath the surface right around where Crow landed. Ghost’s struggle to dislodge Hawk was carrying him closer and closer to the water’s edge. Next thing I knew, there was a massive splash as something just as big as Ghost burst from the water and slammed into him.

Lindsay. You cheeky bitch. You didn’t leave us at all. You just set a trap. Her assault sent Hawk flying, but she landed on her feet and sprinted away as the two titanic predators ripped and tore at one another. If I live a thousand years, I doubt I will ever see anything so terrifying and awe-inspiring again.

Lin caught Ghost’s neck in her jaws in her initial charge. She wrenched him around, grasping with her forearms, trying to wrestle him to the ground, but Ghost is a formidable creature. Despite the onslaught and all his other wounds, he got his feet under him, freaking muscled her off of him with nothing but his damn legs. Lindsay had lost her chance to end this with an ambush, but not before biting bleeding wounds into Ghost’s throat, and tearing more flesh off his bones. It still wasn’t enough.

It was unreal. He looked like a giant zombie at this point, yet he completely ignored all the damage. He was focused on Lindsay. The two titans charged each other and I swear I felt the impact thirty yards away. Ghost didn't have the advantage of useable forelegs like Lindsay did, she would put her whole upper body into grabbing and clawing at his massive head, pushing him away as tried to close his massive jaws around her.

But he learned quickly that his strategy wasn't working on her, so he changed tactics. He put his muscle to use. He barreled forward, knocking Lindsay off balance, and she fell onto her side. He was there seconds later. Lindsay squirmed just enough to avoid getting her neck chomped, but he got one of her arms and chomped down hard. Lindsay howled.

Ghost had her at his mercy. If I didn't act, Lindsay would die. I wasn’t about to let that happen. I dropped my spear and pulled the pickaxe back out as I crept up behind him. He was too busy trying to rip Lin’s arm off to notice me approaching his big ugly foot. I've never swung anything so hard in my life. I buried that pickaxe right in that monsters toe. I felt it pierce the flesh, and grinned when it split bone like an axe through firewood. Ghost let go of Lindsay, blood dripping from his teeth, and he roared. My damn ears popped.

Okay, so he wasn’t completely immune to pain. Breaking bones was effective…

He thrashed about on his newly broken foot. I sprinted away. I stopped to grab my spear and spared a look back. Lindsay was staring intently at me, making chuffing sounds. “You’re welcome.” I whispered, but then I had to flee again. Breaking his foot made him even angrier. He forgot all about Lindsay and came limping after me. I wouldn’t be able to stay ahead of him for long. My head was still spinning. I felt like I was going to throw up. With nothing else to do I sprinted as fast as I could up the hill and into my house, slamming the door behind me. The walls wouldn’t stop him, but he would lose sight of me. I dove out a window and kept sprinting. Ghost did exactly what I thought he would. He barreled right into my house, bringing down several walls and part of the roof. I moved as fast as my crippled body could, but soon I had to stop. My body convulsed as I fell to my knees and threw up. I was definitely concussed… Had Ghost figured out which way I went?

Weakly I looked back. He was coming right at me. “Well shit… That’s not good…” Things were getting hazy. I wasn’t going to be able to rouse myself. “You gave it your all Rayne. It took a monster to bring you down. No way in hell he’ll survive those wounds either. Maybe it’s time to rest. Hey… What’s that rumbling sound?” Confused I glanced towards the inlet. Some sort of freight train was charging up the beach. What was that?

For a brief moment, my vision cleared. At first I barely recognized him. It was Snugglebug. I’ve never seen a Diplodocus look anything other than loving and adorable. But right now, he had a look of pure determined fury on his face. Ghost was too intent on me to notice the impending danger… or maybe he just didn’t expect a Diplodocus to be a danger. Until now, I sure didn’t. He may not have any weaponry, but he’s still fifteen tons and currently he was moving at alarmingly high speed.

The resulting crash was… ugly. One of Ghost’s legs snapped like a twig as the long-neck barreled right into him. The force sent him flying to the ground, where he tumbled down the rocky hillside. I heard more of his bones breaking on the way down. Having broken the big bad beast, Snugglebug’s demeanor changed right back to the one I was used to. His gentle brown eye’s turned to me with fearful worry. I started crying as he stomped up to me. I hugged his head as tightly as I could.

A lot of my other friends appeared too. A few Raptors, the two Parasaurs, Joey the Lystrosaur. I sat and cried with them, never letting go of my Snugglebug. Then that horrid roar pierced the morning. In disbelief I ran to the hills edge. Sure enough… that son of a bitch still wasn’t dead.

His leg was broken, many of his innards spilled out from the wounds in his guts, and he was lying in a pool of his own blood, but he kept on thrashing, and roaring angrily. He was still trying to drag himself to me. I looked around. Many of my friend’s were beaten and battered, but those that were alive were back on their feet: Samson the Trike, Seagull, Hawk, Finch, Crow, and Parakeet the Raptors, Petey and Paula the Parasaurs, Harriet, Horace, Hector, and Helen the Dilophosaurs, and Lindsay the Spinosaurus. “Everyone ATTACK!”

The battle was blur after that. Lindsay pinned Ghost down, and grabbed his neck once again. Samson gored him repeatedly with those wicked horns. The Raptors all leapt on him and kicked, bit, and scratched. The Dilos, the Parasaurs, and even the Lystrosaurs (whom I'd all sent away with Snugglebug) got a few hits in as well, spitting, scratching, ramming, nipping, all of us put everything we had into ending Ghost’s rampage. I jabbed my spear into that bastard’s throat so many times.

Even crippled as he was, he still fought back. Somehow he killed Paula with a kick to the throat. She got too excited and went charging at his belly. I wish I’d been able to stop her. The kick almost knocked her head clean off. The rest of us just got madder. Even with all of us working together, it took forever for that demon to stop thrashing and die. I was honestly beginning to believe we weren't going to be able to do it, but finally he weakened enough that Lindsay was able to lift him up and spin his head a full ninety degrees, snapping his neck with sickening pop. He breathed an angry death rattle at us as he finally faded away.

Lindsay and I both roared in triumph. Then I fell to my knees and I burst into tears. I cried for the friends I'd lost, I cried for myself, for being trapped in this hell, but I also cried in joy. These creatures got nothing from me but extra food, a warm fire and some fun and games when I was able, but every single one of them, even the ones I'd ordered to retreat, had charged headfirst into battle to protect me. Even one of the Dodos wandered over and started whacking Ghosts corpse with his beak. (Took him a bit to realize he was smacking his head on a corpse. But then he just sat there squawking triumphantly. Like he'd killed the big monster all on his own).

All of the animals I'd befriended, fought tooth and nail for my survival. I loved every single one of them so much in that moment. I wanted to share that story. I patched up the wounded before I came in here to write it down. Take care of the beasts you befriend. They'll take care of you.I need to tend to them. I need to say goodbye to the ones I lost. After that… I don’t know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Every fight with something with too much health always devolves into a big swarm of friendly Dino’s converging on the offender. Hope I caught the essence of that madness


	2. Entry 17: Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Healing begins, while Rayne ponders what to do next...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta by Muttsley. Thank you!

I’m alive. Part of me still can’t believe it. One week ago that killing machine Ghost tried to kill us all, but instead we fought back, killed him, and turned him into arts and crafts.

Things have calmed down now. There were some really nasty wounds. Samson’s entire left side was black and blue, Crow had a full foot of his tail chomped off, Lindsay’s arm still looks pretty nasty, and just about everyone has some scrapes or bruises.

In between the nausea brought on by my head wound, I managed to tend to everyone. I applied all the medical paste I had and then I got to cooking more. For Lindsay, all I managed on day one was a hefty helping of paste applied to her wound. In the following days I crafted a big needle and used a length of rope to stitch her wounds closed as best I could. I've kept her asleep for the most part to keep her from scratching at it. What I wouldn't give for an enormous plastic "cone of shame." Everyone else is on the way to a full recovery, but I worry Ghost messed up something inside Lindsay’s arm. That would be beyond me to fix. Even now she walks with a bit of a limp.

Petey didn't take any hits, but he's been acting weird. I think he's upset about his fellow Parasaur, Paula's, death. Poor guy. I miss her too.

Some of the Raptors had cuts and scratches from getting tossed around but aside from poor Pigeon and Crow’s missing tail-tip, they're all okay. They almost seemed... shell shocked the last few days. I know how they feel. They all stood around their brother’s body, looking down at him.

There was another casualty I didn’t account for last time. I didn’t find her till later. Little Gracie, the Lystrosaur. I'm not sure how. When the fighting stopped I found her there, lifeless and broken. She must have been killed when Ghost knocked over most of my house.

So much pain. That was easily the worst day I’ve had thus far. I ached all day and tried to heal.

That evening, I actually built a funeral pyre out of all the firewood I had, along with a few splintered sections of my house. First I carried little Gracie to it, and laid her to rest. Next one, I couldn’t manage on my own. The Raptors are bigger and heavier than I even realized. But after hoisting Pigeon’s broken body onto my shoulder, I was suddenly joined by Hawk, and soon after, Finch. They helped me lift their comrade up and carry him to join Gracie. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to get Iggy, or Paula. At first I just carried Iggy’s head over and set it next to the others, but Lindsay had my back. I burst into tears when I saw it. After watching me carry the others, she’d somehow caught on to what I was doing, and then she started helping. She used her one good leg and her jaws, to hoist Iggy’s body as high as she could. Only a bit of his tail dragged along the ground as she awkwardly carried him, and set him down on the pyre with the others. Paula soon followed. Lindsay leaned down to look at me when she was finished. I swear she was begging for reassurance. I hugged her snout as hard as I could as I cried.

My friends deserved a hero’s funeral. They deserved my respect. They fought and died for me when I hadn't even asked them to. Thanks to my other friends, I was able to give them one.

It took hours to get it burning. It's funny. All of the Dinosaurs all stood there watching solemnly. Lindsay, the Raptors, Petey, all of them. None of them (except the Dodos of course) got comfortable. I didn’t expect them to understand the significance of this… but I swear to you, it was like they understood this fire was a special one. This was a fire for their fallen friends. They were saying goodbye, just like I was.

As their fire burned, and an hour or two ticked by, my living friends began laying themselves down on or near me. Lindsay came first, curling herself up behind me and snaking her head around to rest it next to me. This is the first time she’s ever wanted to be this close. I leaned back against her, and listened to her heavy breathing. Petey came next, sullenly laying down and resting his head on my lap. He was sad. I stroked his chin the way he liked. Crow curled up just out of reach, and the rest of the Raptors did the same nearby, then Joey and Jack the Lystrosaurs climbed up to me, trying to join Petey in my lap as best they could. Samson plopped down on my right. He faced away from us of course. He was too tough to admit he was apart of this. Snugglebug laid himself down next to the Raptors, with his long neck curled around so his head came to rest next to me.

We all slept there in the glow of the Pyre. It was… the most bittersweet feeling, to have lost, but to feel so loved.

There was plenty to do once I’d said my goodbyes. I kept myself busy to stave off despair. I started collecting supplies to rebuild my house, I tended to my friend’s wounds, and I started carving meat off of Ghost. I got as much as I could before he started to smell. The meat eaters helped me out there. I cooked as much as I could and stored it away in the smoker to make jerky. I've got a huge supply of Rex jerky. I should be good on food for quite some time.

While we were handling that we were visited by a gaggle of adorable (but vicious) little scavengers. I’d seen the little guys around in the past but I’d been ignoring them for the most part. Compsognathus. Little chicken-sized Raptor-shaped dinos with the cutest little faces… That sometimes try to eat your face. Be careful with them. Cute as they are, they can be dangerous. One Compy probably won't get violent with you. They turn on all the charm when they’re alone. They’ll walk right up to you and peer curiously up at you with those adorable little eyes (omg, so cute). If there's more than one in the area though, I almost guarantee you they'll try to attack, even if there's only two. That’s why it was a little alarming to see six or seven of the cute little shitheads picking at Ghost when I woke up one morning.

I thought they were getting ready to fight me, but Lindsay has been sticking real close to me since the fight. I think I finally earned her respect. When the little guys saw her they fled for their lives. I’d tried feeding Compys in the past. I even tried knocking them out before feeding them when they got uppity. Same strategy has worked to tame most of the other predators. Apparently the Compys are little gourmets. They won’t accept any old meat. They’ll only accept the best cuts of fucking T-Rex if you want to be friends with them. If they weren’t so adorable I’d despise them…

So after sharing some Rex meat with the little jerks, they’ve started hanging around what was left of my house. They even behaved themselves. They’ve been hanging around for three days or so. I gave them names and think of them as friends. I ended up naming them after periodic elements… I’m not really sure why… Carbon, Silicon, Gold, Chlorine, Phosphorus, Hydrogen, and Neon. I hope I don’t fall in love with any more of them because I don’t remember very many elements…

Anyway, even with the extra help, we didn't even come close to picking Ghost’s bones clean before he started to smell. I hacked off the head and continued cleaning off the skull. I'll be mounting it to the wall of my house, once it’s rebuilt. Hopefully it will serve as a warning to any other predators that plan to attack my friends or me.

The rest of the rotting carcass, well… oddly enough, when I woke up this morning, it was gone. The (mostly) clean skull was right where I left it, but the rest of the bones had apparently just vanished. I was alarmed at first. Was I gonna end up fighting Ghosts… Ghost? But after thinking about it for a while, something occurred to me. I see creatures hunting and killing every day, but you know what I don’t see much of? Carcasses. Freshly killed bodies seem to stick around for a while, but it almost seems like the bones disappear after a certain amount of time goes by, or a certain amount of rot takes place. It builds on my previous theory. This place is artificial, and somehow it’s regulating itself. Somehow it disposes of carrion. One more mystery to solve in this place. I’m not complaining too much. Saves me the trouble. So long Ghost. Your head is going to make a great wall ornament.

So that’s what’s been happening. I’ve been doing my damnedest to recover after fighting that freak. It made one thing painfully clear. I can’t stay here. Whether we dig in or not, Ghost won’t be the last threat we face. I won’t last forever. I’ve decided that while I’m alive, I’ll strive to find answers, and I’ll do it as safely as possible. I don’t want any more friends to get hurt, but maybe if I find a way out, I can get them out too? It’s weak justification, but its what I’m holding onto for now. I may be a bit of an introvert but… I just can’t stay here if I’m the only human. I’m going to try to find the caves. I’m going to collect the artifacts, and I’m going to bring them to the obelisks. Hopefully, I’ll find answers then.

Writing this has been less about survival and more about coping. Hope if anyone reads this they'll forgive me for that. I'll give more advice if ever I write another entry. Best of luck out there.


	3. Entry 18: Oooo a Monkey!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rayne continues to rebuild her home, and her posse. She also makes a few new discoveries.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta by Muttsley. Thanks again! Sorry I forgot to credit you at first...

It’s been another week. I guess this journal will become a sort of weekly log now. I’m okay with that. This week was a busy one. I repaired all my broken woodworking tools and crafted a few new ones, then I spent several days chopping down trees near the swamps and having Snugglebug help me drag the lumber home.

So far I have two and a half walls of my new house built. Ghost’s big ugly skull is mounted to the outside, right above where my front door will be. Lindsay has been actively helping me build now. All I have to do is construct a wall, and she’ll lift it for me, and hold it in place while I got it all connected. My new house is going to be pretty rad when it’s done. I’ve got plans for a second floor, a crafting station, some primitive plumbing, storage space… all the comforts of being lost on an island near the bottom of the food chain. 

On top of it, with some new engrams, I’ve got plans to design a nice big smoke house to preserve my meats. I’m still not sure on refrigeration yet, but I’ll figure something out. Carpentry is a pain in the ass when you’re doing one hundred percent of it (including the creation of proper tools and gathering of raw materials) on your own. But putting my aching body aside, the homestead is coming back to life again. 

My friends are recovering as well. Crow is having trouble readjusting after losing a chunk of his tail. It’s like he lost a vital counterbalance. He’s fine when he’s running around on his own and hunting and what have you, but when he’s carrying me… its like he can’t find his center of balance. He’s fallen several times and sent me careening into the bushes. I tied a smooth stone to his tail tip to see if it would help him keep his balance, but he refused to move until I took it off again. I’ll figure something out. 

He and the other Raptors are back to playing their games while I work, and the little ones race and chase around the bushes. Lindsay and Snugglebug lounge in the sun in-between their little wrestling matches, and Samson continues to watch all of it with a stony stoic look on his face. His injured side is healing nicely but it’s still tender, based on how he barks at me when I try to touch or examine it.

The farming, the hunts, and the gathering of resources has all gone smooth. Even smoother than before now that Lindsay is cooperating. 

The supply drops have been plentiful, and very helpful. I found blueprints for various structures I could build, including something called a fabricator. I haven't built it yet but it looks like it will allow me to craft more complex supplies. It’s gonna take a long time for me to figure out how to carve metal into the various necessary gears and screw formations though… 

I also received some kickass new weapons: a crossbow, a sword, and a freaking gun. Yes, a gun... Nice featureless rifle. It looks like the parts were hand carved, which means I’m not really familiar with any of its parts yet, but the thing has no bullets so I wont be using it anytime soon anyway. If I can figure out a way to make ammo, I'm freaking set. Until then the gun is useless, but I'm still kind of excited about it. 

Anyway, the crossbow has been the most useful new tool. It fits the arrows I can make, and launches them with much more force than I could with my regular bow. It even works underwater, but only at close range. Made short work of the piranhas that way. It takes longer to reload, but I have the Raptors to carry me away from danger while I reload. Some advice? Keep a healthy supply of arrows. Getting caught without enough in this place can be fatal. 

One other fun thing happened. I was out chopping down trees with Snugglebug, when the cutest little red-haired monkey emerged from the bushes. He’s like no monkey I’ve ever seen, so I assume he’s some prehistoric monkey ancestor, but honestly I couldn’t care less. All I cared about was the cute monkey hooting at me and looking adorable. I got a handful of berries and presented them to him. He was cautious, but he wasn’t about to turn down free treats. He trotted up to me as I kneeled down to give him his berries. Tentatively he reached out to grab a handful with his tiny little monkey hands. I tried to reach out and pet him (he’s so cuuuuuuute), but he just screeched and bolted. I was genuinely heartbroken. 

Luckily for me he came back before I was finished chopping down the last tree. I immediately grabbed him some more fruity treats and this time I just sat there. Four times he approached me, grabbed some berries, and retreated to eat them. I just kept sitting. On the fifth, he seemed to decide “fuck it, you’re a trustworthy fellow primate” and he scuttled his way onto my shoulder where he parked himself and munched on the berries I handed him. His name is Diddy. 

He was a bit nervous about meeting my other friends when I brought him home, but it’s been two days and he’s already cozy enough to climb onto Lindsay’s nose, much to her chagrin. It’s nice to have something warm and fuzzy to snuggle with. He’s a bit of a troublemaker of course, but I haven’t quite gotten tired of his antics yet. Keeps things lively, most of the time. Really wish he’d stop sitting on me at bedtime though. Sometimes I need to be alone… 

That’s all the developments I have save for one big juicy one I wanted to save for last. I think I found one of the caves. Just yesterday, I had grown bored of chopping and sawing wood, so I decided to take the Raptors out for a ride. 

My newfound friend, Diddy, showed me one of his talents. I wish I'd befriended one of these little guys sooner. It may have saved a life or two. See, the little monkeys have an almost supernatural danger sense. I like to carry Diddy on my shoulder when I'm out exploring. If he senses danger, he’ll shriek in my ear, and I’ll know to be careful. He’s the perfect early warning system. I feel much less worried about surprise attacks. 

So yesterday, with the little guy perched on my shoulder, and ever watchful, I saddled up Crow and we all went for a ride. Crow was still a little off balance, but we kept our pace relatively slow. We crossed rivers and eventually ended up on the same beach where we first knocked Ghost on his ass. I planned to stop there for lunch, but first, we had to hunt something for my Raptors. We caught sight of a chubby looking taper/pig thing. I got the Raptors to chase it into the jungle where it ran into a small ravine. Hawk caught up and made the kill while the rest of us caught up. After I gave Diddy his berry pile, and scarfed down some fruit and jerky for myself, I wandered around the ravine for a bit. 

The jungle canopy was thick here, so the ravine itself was relatively dark. There was no way I was going to stray too far from my predator posse, so I didn’t venture far, but that was where I found the cave entrance. It was partly hidden by murky shadows, foliage, and rocks. I only spotted it because Diddy, who was still sitting on my shoulder, suddenly shrieked out loud (right in my fucking ear). 

He started tapping me with his little hands, as if to alert me of danger. When I finally found what had spooked him, I felt surges of both fear and excitement. Helena Walker had mentioned caves, and I’d found a cave. This had to be one of them right? 

I knew it was a bad idea to go unprepared, but my curiosity, along with my burning desire to find answers, spurred me to make another bad decision. Hawk and Crow finished eating first. Once they did, I called them over, I got a torch lit, and the four of us entered the cave. My plan was to just poke around and give myself an idea of what was in there. The first sign of danger, we would get the hell out. I kept us moving slow as we moved farther and farther from the light of the cave entrance. Diddy remained calm, so I kept moving forward. 

As we moved deeper... well... the cave itself caught my attention. It didn't seem to be getting any darker. It's strange. I couldn’t figure out where the light was coming from. There's some crystal type rocks jutting from the walls that seem to glow but... how? The further down the narrow tunnel I moved the brighter it got. Finally we walked down a small hill and found a small chamber. There were tunnels leading off to the left and to the right. 

But it was the wall of the chamber that caught my attention. Most of it was rocky like you'd expect a cave to be. But other parts of it looked... almost metallic, smooth, and... glowing with eerie light. An almost sci-fi looking wall that reminded me a lot of the floating obelisks outside. I couldn't tell where the rock ended and the metal began. This place isn't natural. I'm starting to think this place really is a high tech terrarium. The walls of this cave almost resemble parts of machinery. I cautiously approached them to get a closer look. As I was standing their pondering, Diddy let out another shriek right into my ear. I must have jumped fifty feet. 

I had my spear drawn a second later and I moved towards my Raptors who were crouched into battle stances. Then I spotted what had alarmed Diddy so much. It skittered up through one of tunnels on eight spindly legs. It spotted me with its eight reddish eyes and let out a chirping... call of some sort before it charged us. A spider. I hate regular spiders. This spider was as tall as my waist and wider than a mastiff and that's not even including the legs. Screw this thing. 

I whistled and Crow pounced on the creature. Frightening as the monstrous spider was, it was no match for Crow. He stomped through its exoskeleton while he and Hawk bit its legs clean off. Once it was dead though... Crow looked woozy. I saw a wound on his foot. The spider had bitten him. Was it poisonous? I moved toward him to examine him but Diddy shrieked again. I heard more skittering legs coming up the tunnel. I might have panicked in this situation months ago. But almost being chomped by a T. Rex makes you bold. 

We were attacked by more than just spiders. Scorpions as large as Great Danes emerged from that tunnel as well. Crow, Hawk and I killed the spiders easily enough, but then Crow took a scorpion sting right to the throat. I let fury guide me as a buried my spear in that monster’s ugly face. 

I saw Crow collapse in a heap. Frankly I thought he was dead at that point. Turned out he wasn't, but boy did I get angry after that. I dodged fangs and stingers and jammed my spear into those creatures as hard as I could. Their armor is tough. Little blows won't even slow them down. Strike hard and stay back. Their goal is to get venom in you. Don't let them. I killed three spiders and a scorpion all on my own during that battle, while Hawk tore a few others apart. Creepy jerks. 

Right when I thought I could relax I was hit in the back by large gob of fluid. Some of it splashed onto my skin and immediately started to burn. Acid. Something in here spits acid. I ripped most of the clothing off as I felt them start to disintegrate and turned around to face my attacker. I’m not sure why, but these things scare me more than the spiders and scorpions combined. I thin I actually know the name of this one. Arthropleura. A giant centipede that existed before dinosaurs, when the Earth’s oxygen levels were much higher. It’s... as terrifying as it sounds. Armored segmented body, way too many god damned legs, and creepy clacking mandibles... also they spit acid. It's wise to bring several sets of clothes into caves with you. Their acid eats right through it. 

They've got a nasty bite as well. Learned that when this one lunged at me. I shrieked and jumped away but that things mandibles nicked me just under the tit. Any closer and it probably would have taken a chunk outta me. Their armor is thick. Trying to drive a spear into them isn't easy. Hit them in the belly if you can. If not, they're just as vulnerable to a spear in the head as anything else. 

That's how I killed this one. I had to use both hands to strike with enough force, but I skewered the scuttling freak’s head like shish kebab and held it there till the thrashing stopped. God those things are gross. 

Let this be a lesson. I was in a cave for ten minutes. I left that cave, bleeding, exhausted, and naked from the waist up. Always prepare appropriately before you go spelunking. Bring food, water, medicine if you've got it, and a good number of Stimberries. They make you thirsty but they give you energy. Most of the bug monsters in here have venom that acts as a tranquilizer. The Stimberries can keep you going in a pinch if you get bit. They don't cure the poison, they just keep you awake. You don't want to fall asleep with an angry spider nearby. 

Crow eventually woke up and we got the hell out of there and headed back to the surface. After meeting up with the rest of my Raptors, we ran to the nearest beach to clean up and catch our breath. I caught sight of my reflection while I was rinsing. It had been a while since I’d seen myself, when did I get all these muscles? I guess building an entire house from scratch can do that to you. Reminded me of how strong I’ve gotten. Not even Ghost could stop me. Still pissed at that centipede though. It melted my only bra. 

But I gabbed long enough. I got us home that night, and I’ve spent today making preparations. I’ve marked the cave’s location on my map. When I’m ready, I’ll be going back. I need to find the artifact. If this place thinks a few bugs (and arachnids) are gonna stop me and my Raptor pack, it has got another thing coming.


	4. Entry 19: Kicking Ass in Cave Number One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Having found her first cave, Rayne, and her Raptors, face the perils within.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta by Muttsley. Many many thanks!

I've got the artifact. It’s… strange. In many ways it’s just like the obelisks. It’s a strange shaped object made of strange material, I first found it hovering in a beam of otherworldly green light, and it provides zero answers while it sits there taunting me and being all nondescript and mysterious.

Unfortunately I’m still clueless as ever as to what the hell's going on here. I’m a little pissed, but the ass-kicking I received in that cave wasn’t a total waste.

So last week, after returning from the cave, I began planning a strategy for my return. The first thing I considered was how vulnerable I’d felt while battling bug monsters with only a spear. Their armor didn’t completely protect them from spear jabs, but all in all, I felt like a spear was impractical when fighting against them. If I thrust at the wrong angle, my spear just bounced off them. I needed to be able to deal damage from a variety of angles, while also defending myself from their quick strikes. 

I dug out the sword I got from the supply drops a week or two ago. “Sword” might be the wrong word. It’s fatter on the end like a machete. That, along with it’s weight, made it seem better suited for hacking or chopping, which would be much more useful for cracking through chitinous exoskeletons. It was a bit heavy, but I could still swing it pretty comfortably, one handed. After choosing my weapon, I went digging through my metal scraps, hoping to find a nice flat piece I could use to craft a makeshift shield, but sadly, all the metal working I’ve done thus far has been with little things. So instead, I crafted a nice shield out of sturdy palm-wood. 

With a sword-and-shield combo, I reasoned I could block the bug’s stings, and lunging attacks, while chopping them up. I’m not exactly experienced in this kind of combat. Even my dad never covered sword fighting. But a fight like the one I was imagining wouldn’t call for fancy ripostes or parries. I gave myself a few days to prepare some supplies and practice with my weapons, before I threw my monkey on my shoulder, hopped on Crow, and lead my Raptor pack into glorious battle.

The cave was more harrowing than I expected, and I was expecting it to kick my ass. There were giant snakes, giant spiders, giant scorpions, one giant lizard, and even a giant crocodile. Basically try to imagine just about everything that human beings are squeamish about, jack up their size, and make them all extremely aggressive. That’s what was in that cave. Even so, we made it through with no casualties (though Finch did take a venom-induced nap).

As scary and vicious as the cave’s residents were, they weren’t particularly bright. Diddy would help us detect the presence of the creatures. I would make some noise and draw groups of them into the tunnels. The narrow corridors kept the beasts from spreading out and surrounding us, and made it very easy for me to fight them with my sword and shield. When I got overwhelmed, I’d dash farther back, where my pack was waiting to ambush them and finish them off. They fell for the same trap over and over again.

I had to change tactics later, when a group of those centipede dickheads fucking melted my shield with their acid spit. It became a bit of a brawl after that. My Raptors kicked all kinds of ass in there. Hawk and Crow were magnificent. The pair of them each seized a part of a giant centipede in their jaws, then, working together, they tore the thing clear in half. Every single one of us had a kill count in the double digits by the end… except the monkey, of course. He jumped off my shoulder and climbed a wall when the fighting got heated. Not that I blame him. These guys were way above his weight class.

So you get the idea. It's pretty chaotic down there. If you’re planning on doing some spelunking of your own, here’s some tips. Watch the corners for nasties, never drop your guard, and for fucks sake, stay out of the water. The pools I saw were teeming with Piranhas and another had a big angry Sarcosuchus. Why is a crocodile in a cave? Don't they need to bask in the sun? Eh, whatever. 

Oh, also watch the ceilings too. Once we’d felled the last of the spiders and scorpions in this one chamber, and we were all pausing for breath, Diddy startled all of us with a shrill shriek. Nanoseconds later he dropped down onto Seagull’s head. I had time to think “Hmm, what spooked him?” before a sizable (lets say 15 feet long and 5 feet tall?) lizard dropped right on top of us. I hadn't even seen it clinging to the ceiling. Diddy had climbed right up to where it was chilling out. It looked like a big Komodo dragon. If I had to guess, I’d say the beast was a Megalania, but nobody ever found evidence that it or any other monitor lizards were wall crawlers like that.

It was a tough fight, but in the end it had nothing on five angry Raptors, and one angry human woman. Parakeet and Seagull finished it off. I was proud.

So yeah, we kicked all kinds of ass in there. The cave finally seemed to run out of monsters to throw at us. I let the Raptors feast. They were meticulous. They used the claws on their feet to crack the shells enough for them to tear off, so they could get at the meat. This ended up working out really well for me. I started gathering up the chitin and packing it into saddlebags. I have an idea for making armor with the stuff, and also, the engrams I’ve got have shown me all sorts of uses for chitin. I gathered up all I could. 

There’s plenty of other useful stuff in that cave: metal deposits, usable crystal, and smooth black rock I can only assume is obsidian. I loaded the Raptors up with all we could carry. The Raptors aren’t great at transporting goods, so it wasn’t much, but that was okay. With the cave’s residents defeated, there was no reason I couldn’t come back later.

Once I was happy with amount of stuff we would bring home, I resumed my search for the elusive artifact. Upon entering the next chamber however I spotted one more Scorpion straggler. He was a shiny black beast with bright orange legs. His color scheme reminded me of Lindsay’s. Remarkably, this one did not charge in and try to murder me when it first spotted me. It still tried, but it stopped and examined me first, sizing me up. It was a sign of intelligence the others hadn't shown. This one was bigger and sturdier than the others too. Older maybe?

I'm no expert on arachnid physiology so I have no idea. On a hunch, I whistled for the Raptors to back off. I engaged the creature solo, with my crossbow. I kept my distance as best I could and put two tranq arrows into it. It was hard to tell if they pierced its armor or not, but they seemed to hurt the creature. After that though it refused to keep its distance. It was a quick learner. I was forced to fend the thing off with my club, narrowly avoiding its stinger and those pincers. A few good whacks right on top of its head... area... seemed to quash the fight out of it, it lay there trying to... catch its breath? Do they breath like we do? I dunno, I knocked it out. 

After that... I offered it some meat. It accepted some, but it didn't seem to enjoy it. When it got back to its feet I noticed it pawing at one of my food satchels. The meat in that satchel had spoiled. I hesitantly dumped out the rancid mess and to my surprise the scorpion gobbled it up. Ever see a scorpion eat? It's kind of fascinating. They use these little arms on their faces to shovel food in. They have some wicked looking mouths. 

Anyway... I had effectively tamed a giant scorpion. That seemed metal as hell to me at the time so I named him Slayer. He happily followed us through the rest of the cave after that. 

I'm not even going to start on why it makes no sense. Bugs (sigh… or arachnids) simply shouldn’t have the kind of brainpower necessary for social functions like this... at least I didn't think so. I suppose it’s not that much weirder than the fact that my primary means of transportation is a deadly murder bird, but still. Befriending a scorpion sounds far-fetched even by the standards of this island. But, whatever. I beat nature. I'm friends with a giant scorpion now. I'm not going to complain. 

I made some other friends too. Though... I took them with me more for utility, and because I thought they were kinda cute than anything. As we were exploring the cave, we ended up going in a circle and returning to the chamber where a lot of the fighting, and later, feasting, had taken place. Pretty much all of the Raptors had needed to poop before we left. When we reached the chamber, there were these two beetles rolling Raptor turds around. Dung beetles. Dung beetles bigger than basketballs, but still. I dismounted (and put an extra set of gloves on) before grabbing up a Raptor turd and offering it to the little guys. They happily accepted my offering, and after that they began following me too. I decided to keep them. Unlike the rest of the insectile creatures I’ve seen, these guys seemed slow, clumsy, and… kinda endearing in a way. I also figured that this would be a better way to deal with the piles of dinosaur shit that accumulate at my house (looking at you, Snugglebug and Lindsay), than just throwing it into the water... the same water I drink... how have I not gotten dysentery?

Not sure what to name the beetles yet but I'll figure something out. So after harrowing battles, meeting new friends and laughing my ass off when Seagull slipped on his own poop, we finally found the chamber that held the artifact. Trust me when I say you’ll know it when you saw it. The whole room pulses with green light. And the artifact is just... hovering there.

It seemed too obvious at first. I spent an hour searching that chamber for traps. I was utterly convinced that as soon as I plucked the thing our of the air, a giant boulder would start rolling towards me or a spike pit would spontaneously materialize, or something. But nothing happened. I walked right up to the thing and grabbed it. There was a small pedastle underneath it, and after grabbing the thing I knelt down to look at it. There was an inscription. “Artifact of the Hunter. With relentless determination, the hunter will never waver until it catches its prey.” 

“Oh great.” I thought. “More foreboding bullshit.” I was a little disappointed by everything. It’s like they're meant to be found, but why? Seriously what is the point to all of this? But what’s their purpose? Why are their bullshit sayings written on their pedestals? Quite frankly, I’m a hunter now, and I waver all the time. You seriously expect me to keep chasing a Gallimimus when it sprints faster than some cars? The artifact itself wasn’t helpful either. It’s just a big black lumpy (almost) rectangle. Feeling a bit cheated, I got us moving towards the exit. 

The trip home was mostly uneventful. I ended up tying the beetles to the backs of Seagull and Parakeet. Getting Slayer across rivers was a bit of a chore. He doesn’t seem to enjoy swimming much. But we got home pretty quick, even if we were stopping often to let the big bad scorpion catch up. 

That's where I'm at now. I'll be spending the next few days building a dung beetle pen and trying to get Slayer acclimated to his new home. At some point I’m going back to that cave to grab up some more supplies. There’s also plenty of work left to do on the house. If I have time I'll go exploring some more to see if I can find more caves. I'll write again if I find anything cool.


	5. Entry 20: Bugs!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rayne reflects on her activities after retrieving her first artifact, while her new bug friends settle into their new home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes I just like to amuse myself and imagine how all of these monstrous prehistoric creatures might play together.

It’s been another week, so its time for another log. One week ago I got my first artifact. It wasn’t quite the accomplishment I expected it to be. In the days since then, I’ve taken Snugglebug and the Raptors back to the cave entrance, and worked on harvesting as much stuff from it as I could. Snugglebug can carry a metric ton or two. You should see the piles of raw metal, crystals, obsidian, and chiton I’ve got now.

While he was waiting, the Diplodocus got bored and decided to drop a deuce that was only slightly shorter than me. I smelled an opportunity (among other less pleasant things), so I rolled the giant round turd into the cave and instantly made friends with three more Dung Beetles. I’ve got a good sized band of the little copraphages, and I’ve decided to name them after characters from a show about a stupid but lovable metal band; William Murderface, Nathan Explosion, Pickles the Drummer, Toki Wartooth, and Skwisgar Skwigelf. 

There’s an alcove along the hills my house is on, and Lindsay often takes her shits near it. I have a lot of scrap wood lying around that I used to build a small fence to pen the bugs into the alcove. I also built them a few boxes to crawl inside of if they want. They seem perfectly happy in their snazzy new home with all the free dinosaur poop they can eat. I swear they demolish the stuff. The five of them can make a six foot pile disappear in less than a day. Between them and the compost boxes, I think I can finally stop shoveling the excess dino-shit into the water I drink. 

There’s yet another practical purpose to this. I noticed the beetles excrete a sort of sludge. The stuff is like… the perfect fertilizer. It’s been less than a week and my crops already look greener. The Dung Beetles are definitely a worthwhile catch. I imagine someone who wanted to do a bunch of farming, could use a bunch of the little guys and grow themselves a nice big crop of food in a few weeks if they needed to. So there’s a free hint for you other hypothetical survivors out there. 

In other news, my other new acquisition, Slayer the scorpion, has also acclimated really well to his new home. I found him playing games with the Dilophosaurs. If I’m being honest, it scared the hell out of me at first. I was busy working the crop plots when I noticed the Dilos jumping all over my new spindly friend. I thought they were trying to kill him so I ran over shouting and whistling, whereupon they all stopped and looked at me curiously. It was like they couldn’t figure out what I was yelling about. When I didn't give them another command they went back to what they were doing. They jumped on Slayers back, they grabbed his legs in their mouths, and they attempted to wrestle him to the ground. 

Slayer took all this abuse in stride. Every so often he would catch one of the little predators in his pincers, and give them several gentle shakes, or a small shove. Once or twice, he got both pincers on one of them and lifted the hapless little guys over his head and shook them a little bit. Other times he’ll knock one over and crawl over it, pinning it down while the others tried to pull him off. There was nothing overly violent about their actions and... well it looked a lot like they were all happily playing together. Slayer didn't seem agitated or angered by their attacks. In fact, he seemed to be having fun trying to catch them. 

You can bet your ass I’ve been keeping a close eye on the games. I really don’t want to deal with fights breaking out among friends. Thankfully, there haven’t been injuries. That night around the fire, all the Dilos curled themselves up around where Slayer had parked himself. He had one of them, I think it was Harriet, snuggled up to his face, while he draped a pincer around her. I never thought I’d write a sentence like this, but the five-foot venomous arachnid was pretty… adorable. 

The next day the Compys had joined in on the games with Slayer. When I woke up that morning, I was greeted with the sight of my giant scorpion pal, holding one compy in each pincer, and waving them around like living pom poms while they squeaked in glee. I’d forgotten how nice it was to laugh. So I guess he’s become my unofficial babysitter for small friends.

Elsewhere on my little homestead, the Raptors have begun playing similar games with Lindsay. They’ll dash up behind her, nip at her haunches and dash away as she snaps at them. Again, I was afraid at first, and I tried to discourage the behavior, but it soon became clear that Lindsay enjoyed the game. She would set traps, pretending not to notice and then whipping toward the Raptors as they dashed forward occasionally catching one in her jaws and playfully lifting them into the air, never biting or crushing, just holding.

Samson played this game with the Raptors too, but nowhere near as often. He gets frustrated quick. To their credit, when Samson bellows angrily to signal he’s finished, the Raptors all back off and wander off to find other playmates. 

I'm dwelling a lot on my friend's activities. For one thing, its just been nice to put the fight with Ghost behind me. For another, its been making me think. It never ceases to amaze me how easy it seems for these animals to get along with each other. Part of me still doesn’t get it. How do they differentiate between hostile animals and friends? Is it just because they see me interact with them? I never see this behavior happening with different species in the wild. How did befriending me change that? Suddenly they’re all civilized and sociable to each other. Like a switch was flipped. Don’t get me wrong. Taming and training these animals is still a lot of work. But it still blows my mind to see animals that typically eat one another suddenly being nice and playing game. 

The mysteries of this island and its stupid artifacts continue to hurt my brain. On top of that, seeing Slayer become adorable, kind of makes me feel guilty. For the most part I’ve only hunted by necessity. Killing just isn't pleasant for me. I do it because I have to. 

Back in that cave though, I didn't care. They were big skittering bug monsters. Why sympathize? So I killed almost everything we crossed in there. Granted most of those beasts attacked me first... but... now that I've seen that even the insectile residents of the island are capable of intelligence and socialization, I feel bad for being so vicious with them. 

Don't get me wrong reader. The name of the game here is survival. I won't apologize for killing when I have to. But there's a difference between hunting, and just killing needlessly. At least to me. In the end I've decided not to beat myself up to much. When you get down to it, I was defending myself and keeping my friends safe while I try to work my way towards a solution to my predicament. From here on out, I'll try to show the bugs (and arachnids) the respect they deserve. 

So that’s what’s been happening here this week. Mostly good natured fun with an undercurrent of existential dread and a whole lot of “what the fuck.” Now lets talk about my future plans. First and foremost, something wonderful has appeared in my engram list; a saddle for a Spinosaurus. With the strips of leather I tore off Ghost, I think I have leather strips long enough to construct it too. Just think of it. I could ride on the back of an 18 foot dinosaur apex predator… And she’ll be dressed in the flesh of our enemy. I think I’m tearing up at the thought. Childhood dreams really do come true. I have no clue if Lindsay will cooperate of course. If she doesn’t I’m not going to force her. I’m still reveling in her newfound respect for me. If making her carry me makes her go back to just tolerating my presence again, then it won’t be worth it. Still… I really hope she cooperates because that would be fucking awesome.

The reason I want to saddle up Lindsay, is because I want to travel North. I want to go a lot farther than I ever have in the past. I want to reach the base of the green obelisk. The artifact I have was pulsed with green light back in the cave, so I'm wondering if it fits in the green Obelisk. The red one is closer to me, but I’m worried the pair of mating Rexes are still camped out in that direction. But anyway, mounting an expedition North is going to be a tough job. We’ll have to finally fight our way through the swamps. Taking the Raptors through there just seems like a bad idea, what with all the Sarco crocs. But if I can ride Lindsay… Nothing in those swamps would want to go toe-to-toe with a Spino. I'll be virtually safe.

So that’s my plan, and my current project. The Obelisk is miles away, so who knows how long it will take me to get there. If Lindsay carries me, it might take a few days at most. Otherwise it could take weeks. I'll let you know how all that goes…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My dung beetles are totally metal. Blacker than the blackest black times infinity.


	6. Entry 21: Climbing the Tech Tree

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rayne reflects on an eventful two weeks of building and bonding.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Went outside the game a bit. I like to blend in some of the technical elements when I write. After all, wood doesn't magically become house shaped... Video games lied...

Ok, I may have skipped a week. I’ve had to take some time to… climb the proverbial tech tree. Making a Spinosaurus saddle requires parts that I just couldn't seem to manufacture with my current tools. A few other things happened too. I almost got myself killed a few times. So let me jot down a few updates here.

The day after I last wrote, I started gathering up everything I’d need to make Lindsay’s saddle. The long strips I had from tanning Ghost’s hide were going to work perfectly. But I hit a road block when I realized I had no way to shape the necessary metal rings, buckles, and a bunch of other things. Shaping smaller ones for smaller saddles had been hard enough with the limited tools I had.

My engrams helped me out. I learned to forge my own springs of various sizes, and with them and a bunch of other stuff lying around, I managed to piece together several new structures to help me with my crafting. Both are powered by springs, pedals, and pulleys. I have a pedal powered sawblade to help me cut both wood and thick tyrannosaur hide. I've also got a grindstone, which is also pedal powered. I step on the pedal, and a bunch of pulleys spin the stone… Theres a bunch of other stuff too, but the gist of it is, I made everything I needed to shape metal and leather. Getting it all assembled took about three days. 

The night I finished, I went to bed in my unfinished house, and woke up in the middle of the night with a Troodon biting my face. I’m not even kidding. The little fucker had my head in his mouth. There were three others. Somehow they slipped passed all of my friends and caught Diddy sleeping. We all survived thankfully but it was a pretty close call. If I hadn’t managed to shout for help, before their narco-spit knocked me back out, I might have died. I managed to twist the head of the little shit who chomped me before I collapsed. When I woke up I found my Raptor pack sleeping in a defensive circle around me. I love these beasts. They’d torn the Troodons to shreds.

That was when I decided that it was high time I finished putting my house together… Sleeping with only two walls really isn’t safe. But I really hate chopping wood, and I really wanted to bring my Raptors out for a run as a reward for keeping me safe. I took them up on top of the cliff by my house. 

While we were up there, a few things happened. First off, I traveled to the far end of it to check on the breeding Rex pair. It seems they’re gone. Maybe they had their baby. Maybe they ran when they heard Ghost coming all those weeks ago. Maybe they know we beat Ghost and they were afraid of us. Whatever the case may be, the two Rexes I’ve been stressing about have moved on. That was a huge load off my mind.

After that revelation, I spent a few hours racing and chasing with my Raptor pals. There’s lots of running space on top of that hill. It’s sort of a plateau. There are a bunch of sizable cliffs on the North side. Standing on them gives me a nice view of the swamps below, and beyond those, the redwood forest I have yet to enter. It’s nice up there. If I could move a bunch of the rocks around, I imagine it would be a nice place to bring Snugglebug when he felt like galloping around.

Anyway… After a few hours of games, and a short hunt to fill their bellies, I started leading my friends home, but we ran into an obstacle. Remember “Big-Bird-McSword-Fist?” One of those assholes fucking materialized between us and the one hill that would bring us home. There were no signs of large angry herbivores when I climbed up that morning. To this day, I have no fucking clue where it came from. It strutted around, using its overcompensatory claw-hands to shred shrubs apart. Furthermore, this was pretty damn close to Lindsay’s territory. Granted, Therizinosaurus is plenty large, aggressive, and dangerous, and I imagine it could go toe to toe with a Spino or even a Rex, but the odds still favored the predators by a longshot. As territorial as these things seemed to be… why would it show up on a predator’s turf?

We could have turned around and found another way off the plateau I suppose, and then found another way home, but sunset was roughly an hour away. I refuse to get caught out here in the dark. Our only option was to try to get around the big feathery jerk.

No problem. We can handle one of these right? That first one that killed Hank was brought down by three Raptors. I have five of them and all of them kick ass. I may have been a little overconfident. We tried chasing him away first, but he wasn’t taking any shit from us. After a few minutes of pelting him and shouting at him, and trying to make him go away, he lost his temper and charged us. I scrambled into Crow’s saddle and got the Raptors moving. We used our tried and true “hit and run” strategy to keep the big bird off balance, but he got the better of me.

I gave Crow a nudge and we charged towards the raging beast. As we sped by him, I swung my sword and cut a sizabe gash into his leg. Crow wheeled around and carried us away, but then we were met head on by one of the Therizino’s powerful arms. “Jump!” I shouted a second too late. Crow leapt into the air, but the beast’s arms clipped his feet and soon the world was spinning for both of us as we tumbled along the ground. Apparently the big bird had somehow predicted where we were going to run (or he had a lucky guess) because as soon as I cut him, he spun himself around and swung at Crow and I, and somehow he ended up in the perfect position to knock the feet out from under us.

I collected myself quick. I managed to roll to my left just as the claws came flying at me. They plunged into the dirt and sank a good two feet before stopping. If I’d been a second slower, I would have been shishkebab. I searched frantically for my sword, or anything I could use to defend myself as the Therizino wrenched it’s claws from the ground and took another angry step towards me. But then a weird thing happened. The Therizino paused for a moment. It’s eyes widened, and it turned its head to look at something I couldn’t see. Something standing behind it maybe?

A few second’s later it shrieked and went ballistic. I got the fuck out of the way as fast as I could. It stomped in circles, flailing its arms, and shriek/squawked. Its spastic flailing reminded me of a time in middle school when I dropped a spider down a popular girl’s blouse (bitch called me a slag). She flailed in much the same way. Curiously enough… that’s kinda what happened. It wasn’t a spider though. It was my new buddy Slayer, who had scuttled his way up the thing's tail, and onto its lower back. He was now clinging to it with his legs, and stinging it repeatedly. Within minutes, the Therizino’s stomping slowed and it collapsed in a heap as it succumbed to the scorpion’s narcotic toxins.

I ended up taming the big lug. Once we showed him who was boss, he became more than willing to share the space. He was pretty pleasant, and kind of silly once we got him in line. He took a liking to Snugglebug immediately. So yeah. That was a hell of a day. I’d almost died twice in a row. The next day, I got to work chopping wood. My new Therizinosaurus, saw what I was doing, stomped over to the tree I was chopping, and then he felled it with a single swing of his arm. It turns out these guys are fantastic lumberjacks. He can even split the wood up by jamming his claws into it. I immediately christened him “Bob the Builder.” He has cut down on my wood gathering time by a substantial amount and I love him forever for that. I wish I’d befriended one of these guys sooner.

With him, and all the new supplies and equipment I built, I managed to manufacture the basic pieces of a new house over the next few days. It’s only four walls and a ceiling right now, and in time it will grow, but I can now sleep without fear of something else biting my face.

The rest of the time, I spent assembling Lindsay’s saddle. She was very patient at first. She didn't fuss as I wrapped leather straps around her torso. Her big sail had me worried at first. But it's ridged at the top. I was able to fit two big straps around it and fit them into the ridges, which held the saddle in place. The only place to conceivably sit though was right on her neck. She didn't seem happy when I finally finished the actual saddle and slid it into place. Because of the way it sits, half on her shoulders and half on her neck, it limits how much she can turn her head. I had to bribe her with a lot of extra meat treats, soothing words, and strokes of her chin. 

Finally the main body of the saddle was finished. All that was left was the reigns, and the bit... but Lindsay was having none of that. Nothing I did convinced her to accept the bit in her mouth. My first attempt ended with her bareing her teeth and growling at me. I almost pissed myself. I tried again as days went by but she continued to refuse. She'd get up and walk away from me to go wrestle with Snugglebug.

Eventually we compromised. I made some alterations to the saddle so I could wrap it snugly around her front to hold it in place, and she didn't need to hold a bit in her mouth. I'd finally designed a working Spino saddle. Learning to ride her took another few days. She was very well behaved for me. We figured out a system in which I could signal to her, where I wanted to go. With practice we learned to turn, speed up, slow down, and stop, using words and pats to the sides of her neck. It’s been really nice bonding with her. She often does the thing where she lightly nudges me with tip of her snout, typically right in the chest. I think its her way of showing affection, and it always makes me happy, even when it knocks me on my ass. I call this act of affection “booping.” 

There were some rough patches. She isn’t always in the mood to be ridden. Even on her best days, she’ll only put up with me if I give her treats. If I forget to bribe her, she'll start shaking her shoulders after a few minutes of riding, as if she's forgotten I was there and is just trying to shake the annoying critter off her back. I swear she's almost killed me in this way a few times. The only time she successfully shook me off I luckily landed in water. It's like a twelve to fifteen foot drop.

It takes time, care and mutual respect to coax a Dino to trust you. In theory you could use stricter behavior training. More punishment and dicipline. But that just isn't my style. These animals are my friends, not my slaves. They know if they hurt me or do something that I don't like (like knocking my damn walls over) then I don't build a fire that night and I don't give them treats. They're also less likely to get any affection from me at the end of the day. You can bet your ass Lindsay didn’t get any chin scratches when she threw me off.

Cheeky girl. As I said though, we've come to trust one another while we ride. I can't shoot from her back. I'm too busy holding onto the spikes on her head, directing her, and trying to stay upright. I couldn’t conceivably fire a bow and stay mounted at the same time. That seemed like a setback at first but honestly, Lindsay can handle the fighting on her own just fine. She is a god damn apex predator after all.

So that about sums up the last few weeks. I’ve made a new friend, who helps me work, I’ve built new great stuff, and I’ve bonded with my resident Spinosaurus. It won’t be long before I try riding her out to the green obelisk. Things are looking up. My new tools will open up new possibilities. That might make getting answers easier. Here’s hoping…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My trusty Bob the Builder... I still hate Therizinosaurs in Ark.


	7. Entry 22: A Magical Adventure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rayne details her long trip to the base of the Green Obelisk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one took me so long, and also, Think I got it all cleaned up.

Apologies readers. It seems a lot more than you guys are “of questionable existence.” I’m kinda freaking out, and I’m not sure if I can trust what I see anymore. The damn Unicorn followed me and Lindsay home, and my eyes tell me its now lounging right next to Bob the Builder on a pile of grass. It has to be a hallucination right? The blows to the head and all this stress are just shattering my fragile mind and that’s why I think there’s a god damn Unicorn sleeping outside my house… alongside the dinosaurs…

Oh Gods, I don’t know what’s real.

But I’m going to try to forget about that. Lindsay and I just returned from our journey to the green Obelisk. It was very informative and for the most part… pretty enjoyable. It would have been better if there weren't so many things trying to kill me but when isn't that true here? The artifact I found in that cave fit the slot at its base perfectly. Two more to go. 

The journey itself was relatively uneventful. Fewer things want you dead when you're sitting on top of a fully grown Spinosaurus. It was certainly a new perspective from up there.

Once Lindsay and I had an amicable riding relationship, I packed up some jerky, rockcarrots, and supplies for camping, and climbed onto Lindsay’s back. We left a week ago. With my farms growing loads of fruits, berries, and vegetables for my friends to snack on, and Bob the (motherfucking) Builder there to guard our territory, I was confidant my homestead would be secure while I was gone. I chose not to bring anyone else, since I was planning to move through the swamp. It would be way to easy for anything smaller than Lindsay to disappear in there. So, with a heavy metal song in my heart, I said some goodbyes and gave everyone a big hug before setting off. One little guy ended up coming with me anyway. Diddy climbed Lindsay’s shoulder and perched himself on the back of the saddle without me noticing. I had no clue he was there until he hopped on my shoulder and stole the carrot I was snacking on.

I took us up the banks of the river, but I had never moved very far north. Soon we were at the borders of the dreaded swamps. I was mentally prepared to deal with more snakes. I kept Lindsay at a walk as we muscled our way through thistle, bushes, and mangrove trees. 

The mangrove trees were the worst part. We hit a wall of them almost immediately. Most were too thick for even Lindsay to muscle through. I’m not too surprised. I had an uncle in Florida who once told me they withstand hurricanes. Lindsay tried to pull them down or muscle them over. Ultimately, it was clear that wasn’t working. Even if we kept going like that, Lindsay would be completely exhausted. So instead, I tried cutting. I dismounted and plunged into knee-deep muck, and used my axe to hammer away at the thick spidery web of roots that held the trees above the water. After less than an hour, it was clear that wasn’t working either. Lindsay came up with a solution though. She grunted at me, and lowered herself down, signaling for me to climb back on her back. I obliged her, and next thing I knew, I was clinging for dear life as Lin straight up climbed up over the roots. That was a harrowing experience. She reared up and shifted me around as she probed with her forelegs, looking for strong branches she could step on. Miraculously, the mangrove trees held her leviathan form, and after an hour or so, we cleared the wall and came back down into flat swampy water.

It wasn’t much better, but the swamp trees were more spaced out, and it was much easier for Lindsay to maneuver here. That was when we spotted our first serpent. I spotted the thing undulating through the water, well away from us. It was without a doubt the most massive snake I’ve ever seen in my entire life, and that one was only a small fry. It had to be Titanoboa: the largest snake species in the fossil record. I wouldn’t learn until later how… unusual they are here. At the moment I learned something else that’s kind of interesting. Lindsay really hates snakes.

The thing didn’t seem to have any interest in us and I was willing enough to just move peacefully passed it... but Lindsay didn't like that idea. As soon as she spotted that thing I had to grab hold of her head spikes for dear life as she lurched towards it, refusing to respond to any commands until we'd chased down the snake, and killed it. I have no idea why she has such disdain for the big slithery jerks, but I wasn't about to stop her in the middle of her murder spree. She beat that thing like a dog beats a chew toy. I let her eat what she wanted before we continued, making a mental note to try and give the snakes a wide berth if I wanted to keep Lindsay from stopping to kill every single one we found.

With that ordeal behind us, we slowly worked our way through the marshes. To be honest I had no idea what the best route to go was. I was navigating using only the Green Obelisk, keeping it in sight and moving towards it. Going that way at our slow and careful pace, I was able to pull out my spyglass and use it one handed to survey my surroundings. The swamps are full of other nasties. Do your damndest to avoid going in there if possible. The water is murky and covered with algae, so it’s hard to tell whats swimming around in there. I spotted twenty-five foot crocodiles, twenty-foot snakes, and smaller looking crocodile-ish things lurking in the muck. I also spotted what I think was a Baryonyx. Bipedal, slightly crocodilian features, big hook shaped claws on its forelegs. It looked like a smaller version of Lindsay to be honest, without the sail or the quadrupedal posture.

The thing took one look at us tearing through the trees and dove into the murk, and sped off as fast as it could. I also came across some giant frogs. Damn things were almost big enough to swallow a person whole. But from what I've seen, they're harmless. They haven't shown any interest in me whether I was on Lindsay's back or not. Their primary food source seems to be the foot long dragonflies that also infest the swamps.

… I really don’t like swamps. The dragonflies are harmless unless there's a corpse around. The little scavengers seem to be drawn to dead flesh. They're not powerful but they do bite, and when there's a swarm of them, they can be dangerous. I saw this behavior when I stumbled onto a dead frog. Not sure what killed it, but the dragonflies were all over it. I'm wondering if whatever killed it was chased off by them. 

After an hour or two we pushed through some foiliage and finally climbed out of the muck and onto dry land. We’d made it onto one of the northern Islands. The forest was thick and still pretty swampy, but it was dryer. We rested there for an hour. I’d have gotten us moving sooner, but Lindsay ran off to kill another snake. While I was waiting for that, I stumbled upon another cave entrance. There was no way in hell, I was going inside, but I marked it on my map and did everything I could to memorize the area. I knew I’d have to come back here. How the hell was I going to get my Raptors through these swamps? I had a few minutes to despair over that, but then Lindsay came stomping back, slurping up the last of a Titanoboa like spaghetti. 

I got us moving again. We were forced to re-enter the swamps, as the rocks and trees were too thick after a while, so we kept muscling through the thick, damp air for another hour or so. It was late in the day by then, and it was was hot and sticky. I decided it was break time. Surprisingly I found a sizable stone ruin in a clearing. I think it used to be a temple or something. It was a rectangular shaped series of columns and crumbled walls. There was no roof now. Most of the structure was collapsed and overgrown with algae. It was also half submerged in the swamp water, but I figured the stone pillars around its edges would make it harder for the giant crocs to reach me, so we moved into it, and I carefully climbed down Lin’s shoulder, and slipped inside. Lin found a spot that was just large enough for her to stick her head between the stone to join me inside the perimeter. I built myself a fire using the dry wood from her saddlebags and got to cooking up a meal. Diddy grabbed a few carrots and scampered up to the top of the tallest pillar, where he plopped down and began munching.

Lindsay wasn’t hungry, thankfully. She'd eaten plenty of snake, and seemed content to just lay down, half in and half out of the water. I offered her a meat treat, but she just turned her head away. While my food cooked, I poked around the ruins. I found another note left by the previous survivors. This one was written in Chinese, so I knew it was left by the mysterious Beast Queen. She talked of being in conflict with Nerva, the Roman Legionairre guy, who was trying to conquer the island. It's still so strange to see these writings around. I would think it would be impossible for parchments like this to survive in a swamp, yet here it was, waiting for me to find it. Why are these notes here? From what I can tell about her, The Beast Queen, or Mei Yin, sounds like my kind of lady. She earned her name by taming herself an army of dinosaurs. In the note I was reading, she was hiring herself out to tribes as a mercenary, to help them fight off Nerva’s army. I stashed the page in a small satchel on Lin's saddle, where I thought it was least likely to get wet, then I sat by the fire, eating, and pondering.

Then, much to my great surprise, there was a big splash, and the next thing I knew I was in something's mouth, underwater, being carried away at a high speed. By the time I figured out what the hell was going on, I had been dragged a good distance away from the relative safety of the ruins. 

Whatever had me, it wasn't huge. I was fairly sure it was one of the smaller crocs I’d spotted earlier. Had I been in the mouth of a larger one, I'd be halfway down its throat already. Thankfully its teeth weren't long. The chitin armor I'd crafted kept it from ripping through my skin, but its jaws held me like a vice. Furthermore they crushed the wind out of my lungs and since I was now underwater I could do nothing to refill them. The thing was trying to drown me. I punched and struggled but there was no way I was getting those jaws open. So I wrenched my machete from my hip and somehow I manged to jab it towards the body of whatever held me. Its swimming slowed and its jaws loosened. I scrambled away, trying desperately to find the ground so I could be ready for a fight, but right as I did, a huge shockwave went through the water as something enormous came crashing down on my captor from above. After a few moments, I came sputtering to the surface, coughing up muck and water, trying desperately to figure out what the hell just happened. 

I got my bearings a second later as I saw Lindsay's jaws descend into the water to clamp down on something she had pinned there with her front leg. She’d sprinted after us and stomped on the thing right as I got myself loose. Seconds later, she raised her foot and pulled a sizable, but oddly proportioned crocodile-like creature from the water, She snapped the thing's spine with a single shake of her head. Content that she'd killed her prey, she tossed its carcass aside like a rag doll. She then turned her attention to me as I pulled myself out of deeper water and onto a place where I could actually stand. She trotted right up to me and stuck her nose right in my face. I'm never gonna get used to that.

I gave her snout a grateful hug and scratched at her chin. I can't tell you how awesome it is to have a freaking apex predator as a guardian. With the ordeal seemingly over I went over to the carcass of the beast that captured me. It's an unusual one. I think it's called a Kaprosuchus. It's essentially a crocodile with long legs and a body proportioned more like a big cat's. It's back legs looked powerful. I could see how it had been able to launch itself at me. They hide in the water and use those super strong legs to jump laterally at prey and tackle them. That’s how the jerk had been able to grab me in its jaws and carry me away at the same time. I'm fairly confident I could have survived the encounter on my own, but still, me and the creature had both been to slow to stop Lindsay from chasing it down. The thing had ruined my dinner, and I wasn't about to let fresh crocodile go to waist, so I got to work dragging my captor back towards the ruins where it was drier. Before I made it back, I heard Diddy let out a shriek. It sounded panicked, like the desperate calls of a creature about to die. I dropped the carcass, whistled for Lindsay to follow and sprinted back to the ruins. There I found a terrified Diddy, still perched high on top of a worn pillar, with a gargantuan snake coiling around the it, slowly climbing to where he waited helplessly. The snake had slipped through the pillars, so Lindsay would have to go all the way around to even reach it. I was on my own. That was fine. Nobody's eating my monkey.

It was preoccupied with climbing so it didn’t pay attention to me. It was too high up to hit it straight in the neck. But that's alright, I doubt it's gonna like what I had planned regardless. I took a small running start to put more force into it, holding my sword like a baseball player, I swung as hard as I could. With its body up against the pillar, it's back took the full force of the blade. I was shocked though. As deep as the blade went, the snake's bulk was just to thick and sinewy, so it didn't sever the spine as I'd hoped it would. The surprised monster let out a hissing shriek of pain. I backed off to avoid the thrashing of its body. I didn't give it time to recover. It was too tangled on the pillar to right itself. The wound I'd inflicted was still easily visible. I swung again. Then again. On the third whack, I finally cut through the monster's body. After that I backed off to avoid its spazming death throes. As its shuddering finally ceased, Lindsay finally got around the walls of the ruins. She grabbed up the snake’s remains and proceeded to beat even more shit out of them.

Man that girl hates snakes. I glanced up at Diddy. He was hopping up and down excitedly. He looked at me and shrieked. He still didn't feel safe. I didn't lower my guard. I whistled at Lindsay, hoping she would stay alert as well, but she was busy chomping on the dead one. I slid my sword into my belt and pulled my spear out instead. Best to keep things in this swamp at a distance. I spotted the danger just before it lunged. I raised my spear and dodged to the left just as a second snake’s head came rocketing towards me. For the most part, it missed its target, it had been aiming right at my torso. Since I had moved, it didn't find its mark, but it was faster than lightning. The snake’s bite landed on my shoulder. My thick chiton shoulder pads absorbed most of the blow, but I felt a sharp, white-hot pain in my arm. One of its needle sharp fangs had pierced a soft area of my armor and gone right into my flesh. As I winced, I was surprised when the spot went numb. Then a cool numbing feeling started creeping from my arm into the rest of my body. I felt dizzy, and my body felt heavy and unwieldy.

Poison. I'd been poisoned. A snake that bulky should be a constrictor. Why did it have venom? All this happened in the span of a few seconds. With my body starting to fail me, but my mind sharp, I spurred myself into action, the snake was retreating, waiting for its venom to do its job. I didn't let it. I charged forward, thrusting my spear straight into its bewildered mouth and embedded it in there. Then I pulled my sword out again. I kept hacking until I couldn't hold the sword anymore. The snake’s venom had reached my legs and my head at that point. My vision blurred. I was certain the snake had died after the first three blows. I should be safe right? With all I had left, I dragged my body towards Where I'd last seen Lindsay. I tried whistling. I couldn't. The air felt so heavy. I fell on my face. I found the dirt made for a comfortable place to lay down. My aches and pains forgotten, I slipped into unconsciousness. Clearly I survived. The snake’s venom is just like the scorpion's. It's a tranquilizer. Thankfully it's not toxic.

I don't think I was out long. The sun was still up when I regained consciousness. I had a splitting headache and my muscles ached. It felt like a hangover from hell. I woke up right where I'd fallen, with Diddy now sitting on my back. I picked myself up and was a bit startled by the appearance of teeth, but it was only Lindsay. While I was out, she had lain down and curled herself around me. Anything that wanted to get at me would have had to climb over a part of her body. I can't imagine any predator relished that idea. Oh Lindsay. You are my guardian angel. I threw her a meat treat while I sat and drank water. I ate a hearty meal of jerky and rockcarrots. I stayed there for a while, until the effects of the snakes venom faded completely. Only then, did I let myself sleep for the night.

Ok so maybe I lied a little when I said the trip was uneventful. It's true, this was my first time being flying tackled by a crocodile, and drugged into a stupor by a giant snake, but the thing is... these encounters are my day to day at this point. It's a constant struggle to stay alive.

Lindsay and I fought and killed half a dozen other creatures on our way to the Obelisk. We woke before sunrise the next morning, and right before I’d assembled a fire, we were attacked by Troodons. Their eyes glow eerily in the dark. They leap at you with a viciousness you normally only see in zombie movies... or politics. I’m kind of used to this shit now. Learn the animal’s behavior, respond appropriately. It'll save your life. Troodons love launching themselves at you. Once you figure their attack patterns out, its not hard to dodge them and stab them in the throat. Don’t let a fight with them go long though, they’re smart, and they’ll change tactics when they see you figured it out.

I also encountered angry Raptors, a Carnotaurus, more snakes, a bold croc who snapped at Lindsay when we blundered right up to him.. You get it. Lots of nasties. lots of blood and tears. It took us two days to reach the green Obelisk. I saw beautiful landscapes and wondrous beasts along the way. Bubbling waterfalls, tropical jungles, and finally a large hilly grassland that sloped upwards toward the Obelisk. There were things trying to kill me the whole way. As terrified as they all were of Lindsay, I could see others watching, waiting for a chance to get at me. It wasn’t all hungry predators though. I saw herds of Triceratops, Parasaurs, and even a few Stegosauruses wandering about. I saw big hairy creatures I couldn’t identify, and we even came upon the stomping ground of what I think was a Brachiasaurus. I’ve never seen one from that close. It took my breath away, even from Lindsay’s height. Oh, the last thing worth mentioning was that I saw horses. Mostly regular horses though they do look a little different than I’m used to, so likely they’re some prehistoric horse ancestor. But there they were, galloping around in heards alongside giant reptiles. They were kind of a welcome sight. Despite being different, things like them, and Diddy are the most normal things I see around here. 

But any way, we faced one more obstacle as we finally dragged ourselves out of the swamp onto the plains. The obelisk towered overhead. The beam of light seemed bright as a sun, but oddly almost no light emitted from it, just a soft green glow. We stared up at it in awe as Lindsay marched us across the field. But then came a mighty roar, and my heart leapt to my throat as flashbacks of Ghost pounded through my head. It wasn’t him though. He was gone. I wish I could say I was more help during that brief tussle, but the roar freaked me out. I knew it wasn’t Ghost, but any T rex roar makes me think of him. 

I’m guessing we’d intruded on this fellow’s hunting grounds. It scared me at first but Lindsay sent the thing packing with very little effort. Don't get me wrong. The T Rex's on this island are dangerous. Don't ever go near one without back up. They can kill you with a single bite. But... well, Ghost set my expectations for these beasts pretty high. We'd barely managed to bring him down. But this one proved that Ghost was unique. He had been bigger, stronger, and all around meaner than the typical T Rex's. 

This one was wiser, less violent. It made an attempt to fight and chase us out of its territory, but it wasn't going to fight us to the death over it. Lindsay side stepped his initial charge, and slammed herself into his side, knocking him off balance. Then she reared up (almost catapulted me into the sky) and attacked him with her claws. She cut a bleeding line into his side. The beast screeched in pain and backed away a few steps, not willing to risk any more injury, but still not willing to surrender his hunting grounds to a rival predator. I coaxed Lin to back away from him, and we respectfully parted ways with the angry predator. Neither of us wanted to risk a full-on battle. 

With the way clear, we made our way up the hill and reached the area right below the green Obelisk. The land below it is like a big circular crater. It doesn’t look natural at all. It’s mostly made of rock, but there are sections where the rock has fallen away, and beneath is more of the black mystery metal I saw in the cave, that I’m guessing makes up the obelisk itself. As I examined the crater, I began to wonder if the bottom of the obelisk, which hovered hundreds of yards above us, has at one time fit snuggly into this pit in the ground. What made it freaking float?

We had to search around for a safe way into the crater. We found a pathway that seemed almost deliberately placed there by nature (but then you see the metal and remember it has to be a machine). There were some narrow ledges that I worried were to small for Lin to cross safely. I dismounted and moved to make my way to the center myself, but she followed me across the ledges anyway. Finally I made my way up a rocky catwalk to a stone platform at the exact center of the crater, directly below the Obelisk itself, right where it’s green beam of light hit the ground. There’s a metal circle there where the light touches, and there was some sort of terminal there jutting from its center. As I approached, the diamond on my wrist began to blink, as if reacting to the terminal. Curiously, I accessed its menu screens, and found a new one there. It was labeled “The Guardian’s terminal.” It was otherwise blank, save for two words; “Place Artifacts.” I ran back to Lindsay and pulled out the weird glowy “artifact of the hunter.” I noticed indentations in the metal floor around the terminal, and my artifact fit perfectly into one of them. Despite this, the new menu didn’t say anything new. But this is it. It has to be. If I find the other two artifacts for these slots, it’s bound to make something happen here. Presumably the other Obelisks have places for artifacts too. I don’t like the sound of these “Guardians.” I doubt they could be any worse than Ghost… but who the hell knows. That was the closest I had to an answer for now. It wasn’t much of an answer, but it was… Something. 

I was a little frustrated, but after sleeping on it… I felt a bit better. This wasn’t impossible. My Raptor’s and I can handle the caves, Lindsay and the others can help my fight these “Guardians” if I have to, and then… Maybe I can go home. We’d found the location of another cave on our way up here, and who knows? Maybe we’d find another one on the way back? I won’t be recounting the trip home in full, as it was even less eventful than the trek up here. I decided to go the long way, both to avoid another slog through the marsh, and to see if we can find another cave. It was on our way down the hill on the East side where I suffered a massive psychotic break. I saw it from a few hundred yards away. It galloped gracefully, but somehow despite its beauty and grace, its tense muscles and frantic moves conveyed fear. I saw why when a hungry, horned Carnotaurus burst from some trees and gave chase. At the time I thought it was just another horse. I whistled to Lindsay and figured I’d have her chase off the predator, if only so I could get a closer look at the pretty horse. Lin performed beautifully, with a massive roar being all it took to send the carnivore sprinting for safety.

I dismounted, and that’s when I knew I’d lost it. It wasn’t a horse at all. It was a unicorn. It had a long sparkling, spiral horn atop its head. Its glossy white hair shimmered in the sunlight. It trotted up to me wickering softly. It was easily the most beautiful horse I’d ever seen. But it couldn’t be real… Could it? I reached up and put a hand on its snout, which prompted it to close its eyes. It definitely felt like a living breathing animal. It even accepted some carrots when I offered. When Lin approached and sniffed at the sparkling beast, it respectfully returned the gesture. It was like the two had just acknowledged and accepted each other. And low and behold, the Unicorn followed us all the way home after that. Maybe I’m making too big a deal out of this…but seriously what the hell? Giant snakes, frogs, dinosaurs, bugs, all of that I’ve mostly accepted so far. There's at least some records of creatures like that existing on earth at some time. But a Unicorn? That’s a myth. So what the hell is one doing here on this unnatural dinosaur Island? 

I was having an existential crisis over it the whole way home. It took us three whole days. We stuck to beaches. For the most part we didn’t encounter any larger predators other than a few more Carnos. We did travel down a river that housed no less than three wild Spinosaurs, each of which gave us some funny looks, but after a tense standoff with Lin, they backed down. Along the way I found the entrance to another cave. This one is on the southeast corner of the island, sitting in a little inlet of cliffs. It should be slightly easier to reach than the one in the swamps. That’s about all there is to it. I’ve been to the obelisk. I have the locations of two more caves, which should house artifacts, and I’ve now completed Lindsay’s trial run. If she’s willing to continue traveling around the Island with me… I legitimately think I can do this. I can find these caves, and fight off anything this island throws at me. 

First though, I have to experiment a bit. I’m still not entirely convinced the Unicorn is real. If I’ve just gone crazy… this is gonna be a lot harder than it was, and it was already feeling pretty damn close to impossible…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got really lucky finding that Unicorn. Also, I do not endorse the abuse of sneks IRL. Lindsay's hatred for them stems from her namesake having a phobia of them... Outside of Ark, be nice to the noodle friends.


	8. Entry 23: Snuggle Train, Leaving the Station

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rayne goes over her plans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Took some liberties, but I think it works.

I've recieved a map of the island from a supply drop. I think it was drawn at the same time Helena and Mei Yin were here. It’s labled with names I recognize from their notes. Ive hung it up on my wall and used it to add more detail to my own digital map. 

I’ve figured out where on the Island I am. The peninsula where I've built my homestead is on the eastern border of an area called "the footpaw." It’s at the Southernmost point of the island. I feel a lot less uncertain now, a lot less lost. That’s a comfort I didn’t even realize I’d missed so much. With this map, I’ve made some plans, but let me provide a few updates first.

Our homestead has grown. My house has a second story now. Put my bedroom up there. A place where I can be at peace, safe and sound. The first floor is mostly storage now. You wouldn't believe how many piles of different kinds of rubble I've amassed. I built another basic building dedicated to cooking and storing food. Plenty of smoked meats and dried fruits and vegetables. If I decided not to hunt for a while, I'd say I had enough food to keep myself going for months. The dinosaurs are a different story of course, but I usually take them out to gather their own food anyway. 

The farms are fertile, there’s plenty of water, plenty of supplies. If I keep up my habit of saving as many scraps of useable, maybe useable, and most likely useless, supplies, I should be well fed and healthy indefinitely. I still haven't figured out bullets. But the spear, sword, crossbows, and my other tools have been serving me just fine.

With the map to guide me, I’ve been able to take a few shorter trips with the Raptors. During my occasional excursions into the wilds I've found almost a dozen more notes left by explorers. Most of them are dossiers for the animals. I can put a name to just about every creature I've seen.

I've also killed one or two of each in self-defense. Well okay, the Raptors did a bunch of killing too. There isn’t much else to talk about there. I almost died a few times, I made a new Raptor friend (her name is Robin), I went swimming with Lindsay, where we killed a shark, typical stuff as far as this place goes. I could go into detail, but you already know how this island tries to kill you on a daily basis. I've seen some new things certainly, particularly in or near that redwood forest. It's like a completely different biome sitting fifty feet from a swamp and fifty feet from a tropical island. 

I havent explored there enough to write in detail, but I know there are bears as tall as SUV’s roaming around. I also saw some moose-looking creatures with really crazy looking antlers on them. I can't emphasize enough how strange it is to see big mammals thriving next to dinosaurs. There was even a Bigfoot. He was mostly friendly too. He approached our camp curiously, but kept just enough distance. He was eight or nine feet of hairy hominid. I think he’s called a Gigantopithicus? I thought about befriending him and bringing him home, but to put it bluntly, I was afraid he'd mistake me for a female of his own species, so I just left him some fruits before we left.

I plan to explore that area more thoroughly at some point. I'll talk more about it then. For now I just wanted to give an update, because once again I might die before I get to write anything else. 

I've designed a saddle for Snugglebug, and I’ve spent several days amassing provisions. Those two caves I found aren't too far away from one another, so my plan is to tackle them both in one expedition.

I’m calling my expedition team the "Snuggle Train." It will consist of Snugglebug, Lindsay, and my six Raptors: Crow, Hawk, Parakeet, Finch, Seagull, and Robin. I'll ride Snugglebug and he'll be able to carry everything we need. Lindsay can also carry a lot, and I'll need her if we encounter something large along the way. As a group, we'll travel to the caves, Snugglebug will wait outside with Lindsay to defend him, while me and the Raptors move through the cave and clean house. If I need to retreat, we can get to the surface, where Snugglebug will have everything we need to build a small shelter and a fire in his saddlebags. We’ll be able to rest and recuperate. 

With my updated map, I’ve got a route planned. I’ll be avoiding the swamps as much as possible. We’ll be traveling along the southern beaches towards southeastern tip. We’ll turn north there and reach the inlet where I found the cave. From there, we’ll travel back, and head northwest, cutting through some canyons and across some rivers to bypass as much of the swamp as possible before we reach the next cave. To get home we’ll back track to the river and follow it down to the coast, and take the beaches back home.

That's the plan. I’m guessing, it will take us a week or two to finish this journey. Wish me luck! I really wish someone were here to talk me out of horrible decisions…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember all the strategies you cooked up to make it to the caves and back?


	9. Entry 24: More Caves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (To early readers, apologies if theres some grammar errors and such. It's late and Im a little over excited to post a chapter before bed, so I may not have properly proofread this one. I'll keep editing)
> 
> Rayne's journey's to the caves rattle her and her entourage.

I'm alive. We Succeeded. The price was high. Frankly I don't know if I can continue after this. My friends… I'm using them. I hate myself for it. But I’m just going to keep writing, so I don’t forget.

Our train pulled out of its station and reached its first destination mostly without incident. We traveled along the southern coast of the island, keeping to the beaches of what my map calls the Southern Islets. I kept us moving slow, so I could keep my eyes on everyone. It was actually kind of nice then. There are worse fates than wandering down a beautiful tropical beach with a bunch of friendly animals playfully darting around below you. We had a bit of trouble crossing bodies of water. Snugglebug was a slow swimmer, and he seemed skittish of the water.

We got ambushed by a small school of those damn piranhas as we crossed a small river. They took bites out of Snugglebugs ankles. He practically jumped in fright when it happened. I'm really glad I was holding onto the reigns so tight. He could have sent me flying. Lindsay charged forward, splashing into the water, snatching up the troublesome fish whenever she found one, when she didn't swallow them up, she'd toss them onto the beach. I have to give those damn fish credit. They have balls of solid steel. It doesn't matter how big, angry, and filled with teeth and claws that a creature is. If it steps in the water, the piranhas will attack it. That includes Spinosaurus.

The school was small thankfully. With Lindsay's help, the Raptors crossed unscathed, but I still had to patch up several bleeding wounds on Lindsay, and Snugglebug. Balls of steel, I swear. 

We had fresh fish for dinner that night. The next night we passed through "Drayos cove." I considered swimming straight across it, which would cut the distance we had to travel in half. The water was deep, and I saw some sizable shadows lurking in there. That motivated me to stay on dry land. We stuck to the beach and traveled all the way around the cove. There were brontosaurus grazing in the area. Such amazing creatures. They bellowed timidly as we passed, clearly agitated by Lindsay’s presence, but they didn’t attack.

We got ambushed by wild Raptors once or twice, but we had more than enough muscle to drive them off. We finally reached the southeastern tip of the whole landmass. I stopped there for the night. The cave was just north of us. I wanted to stop here because I spotted a curious thing on the map I received. Off the coat here was an small island that was labeled "Herbivore Island." I checked it out through my spyglass. As the name implied, it was teeming with herbivorous creatures. I watched them from the beach, while the Snuggle Train got comfortable around the fire. I felt a certain amount of whimsy right then. So many wonderful sights to see. And as lonely as I feel sometimes, I'm never truly alone. I had wonderful friends. When it was too dark to see, I walked over to Lindsay and sat down, leaning against her, listening to her massive breaths. We slept there soundly. I woke up with a number of the Raptors curled up near my feet. I'll always treasure these moments. 

The next morning we made it the cave. There's a huge mesa situated on that southeastern peninsula. If you make your way north, following the rocks, you'll come upon a massive inlet in the mesa. It's filled with shrubs, bushes, and rock, and it's surrounded on three sides by massive rock walls. I almost wish I'd woken up here. It would make an excellent spot to build a homestead. Plenty of room, very defensible, if you haven't settled down yet, it might be worth a look.

At the northwest corner of this inlet you'll find a cave entrance. It took us less than an hour to reach it from the spot where we'd slept. We got settled quick. I built a small shelter for myself, and a big fire to keep my friends cozy. Lindsay and Snugglebug got themselves comfortable while I checked over my equipment.

At about midday, I climbed onto Crow’s back with Diddy on my shoulder, and the Raptors and I entered the cave. Be careful in there. Like the last one, it's full of big angry monsters. This one had a few other surprises in the form of (very territorial) giant bats. Their ability to fly above the Raptors, biting and clawing, made them quite the nuisance. It only took an arrow or a single claw to drag them low enough that the Raptors could attack them, but they're agile little buggers. Also, some of them looked... diseased. Try not to let them bite you. They might give you “dinosaur rabies” or something.

We also got ambushed by what I first thought was a rock, but turned out to be a sleeping tyrannosaurus-looking creature. I'm not really sure what kind of dinosaur it was. Maybe a Megalosaurus? It woke and roared at us in a rage. The thing grabbed Robin up in its mouth and looked like it was trying to carry her away. It wasn't too big (relatively speaking). It was maybe 11 or 12 feet tall. I was sort of impressed it could lift her. The other Raptors and a few arrows brought the creature down. Robin made it through that with just a few superficial wounds.

On top of that, the spiders, scorpions, and centipedes made a triumphant return. But once again, they were no match for a pack of Raptors, and a sword-wielding madwoman.

The more dangerous thing to watch out for in this cave is the goddamn lava. I have no idea what lava is doing so far from the volcano, but it's there. The interior of that cave is boiling hot at all times. Bring plenty of water, and tread carefully. Fighting cave creatures, while navigating narrow rock bridges with freaking lava bubbling on either side can be tricky. We had plenty of close calls.

After a few hours of trekking, I had to cut my first excursion into the cave short. We got blindsided by another bat that flew right at us. Hawk was knocked off balance right next to bubbling pool of magma. I managed to save her by diving towards her and leaning into her hip, but the asshat bat circled back around and tackled her to the ground. I killed the little shit, but after that I had to flee. Hawk seemingly flew into a rage. She shrieked loud enough to pop my ears. I saw what happened. Her face was on fire. She'd landed too close to the lava. The flames snuffed themselves out quickly, but she was in agony.

I had to put her to sleep with some tranq. She needed treatment and rest. I hoisted her onto Crow’s back, so we could carry her outside. She'll likely have the burn scar forever. From the right side of her face, down to her neck, her skin was cracked and bleeding from the heat.

I applied some healing salve, cleaned her up as best I could and wrapped the wound. She still seems to be in pain, but she's getting better as far as I can tell. I haven't taken the bandages off yet. I made her as comfortable as I could. She could stay out here with Lindsay and Snugglebug while I finished the cave. She'd done her work. I opted to spend the rest of the day relaxing though. We’d get back to the fighting tomorrow.

I played some tag with the Raptors to keep their spirits up, and we all curled up by the nighttime fire when the sun went down. Strange. A lava cave sat not twenty yards away and it was still chilly enough to warrant building a fire.

I got up bright and early the next day, rousing my Raptor friends. I noticed that in the night Crow had curled himself up with Hawk. I think they’ve got a dino-crush on each other... I totally ship it. 

I left a pile of meat for them to eat. Hawk would be hungry when she woke up. After that, I gave Lindsay her meat treats. Snugglebug was already hard at work, eating every shrub in area. 

I whistled to Crow, but he responded with a grunt and didn’t move. He was eyeing me in an almost pleading fashion. I relented with a smile. He could stay outside with Hawk this time. It made me a little nervous, going into danger without my best and brightest friends, but he had a friend of his own he wanted to care for.

I gave his neck a stroke before I dug one of the spare saddles out of Snugglebug’s saddlebags. Seagull wasn’t my brightest Raptor, but he was strong and sturdy. We’d done a bit of riding together, so he’d make the best backup for this situation.

With Diddy back on my shoulder and four Raptors to aid me, we cleared out the rest of the cave. It seemed that the lion’s share of the fighting had already been done the previous day. We fought off a few more bats, bugs, and one of those lizards that cling to the cieling, while only getting a few new scrapes and scratches. Parakeet really impressed me then. He was more agile than the others. He took on that lizard almost by himself.

He moved fast and struck hard. But he always ran out of breath quickly. I saw him slowing down, so I broke off the fight Seagull and I were having with a pair of giant spiders, and moved in to help him. Together we managed to bite and stab the thing to death, while Finch and Robin finished off the angry arachnids.

After that, the fighting was over. After a quarter of an hour or so, I spotted the pulsing light of another artifact. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me” I actually shouted out loud when I saw. It was located across a vast lake of lava. The only way to reach it was to jump from one narrow rock to the next. I’m stuck in a fucking platformer. I whistled for the rest of the Raptors to stay put. It's a good thing I chose Seagull, I'm not sure any of the others could have made those jumps while carrying me on their back.

Holy shit that was a harrowing experience. I don't think staring down Lindsay the first time made my stomach tighten the way it did during every jump, but we made it. After grabbing the artifact, we made it back too. I was glad to get out of that cave. It was too god damn hot in there.

We spent the rest of the day resting and relaxing on the beach. I checked on Hawk, who was back on her feet, but still moving slow, and still seemingly in pain. I changed her bandages, and applied more healing salve. Her wounds were already looking better.

The next morning she was lightly running around the camp, chasing Robin playfully, but avoiding contact. I decided to give her one more day to heal. We spent the whole day playing games together. Chasing, wrestling, hide and seek, even a bit of wrasslin. I laughed. I had fun. I should really spend more days just relaxing and playing with my friends. If only "staying alive" didn't take up so much of my damn time.

Do yourself a favor. Find ways to have fun. Maybe it's hunting, maybe it's building, maybe it's cooking, or crafting. It’ll keep you sane (too late for me though. The Unicorn is still outside).

In my opinion, you haven't lived until you've startled the daylights out of a two-story Spinosaurus by popping out from behind a rock and throwing a wet steak at her while screaming at the top of your lungs. I also got endless enjoyment from gently lobbing Diddy at the Raptors, watching them spin about, trying to dislodge him. I made sure we didn't get to rough. I had to stop playing when Robin accidentally scratched me harder than she meant too. She looked terrified when it happened, but I hugged her and reassured her. We'd both been running around. The scratch bled a bit but ive gotten worse from house cats. I patched it up, and watched the Raptors play with Snugglebug, who gleefully chased them around.

Nightfall seemed to come quickly. Maybe it was because I was having fun. Strange as it may sound, days like this one, spent with my beloved Dino friends... make me wonder if I really want to leave. If I did, could I take them with me? Would I have to leave them all behind? I’d have to. I mean… I couldn’t exactly bring them home to my apartment… Assuming I can get home to my apartment. Considering that previous explorers of this place included an ancient Chinese warrior woman, and a Roman legionarrie… I’m starting to wonder if maybe going home isn’t an option.

That thought disturbed me, so I snuggled up with Lindsay again that night, wishing I had access to alcohol and trying to forget the existential shit. The next morning, Hawk seemed well enough to travel, so I got the Snuggle Train moving again.

The other cave was located in the northern tip of the "Southern Islets" area. We'd have to do a bit of hiking through the swamps to reach it. First we went south, back the way we came. We turned north to go up the beach of Droyos cove again but when we reached its northern point we turned east instead of south. Cautiosly we made our way through a ravine that took us straight across the area and into a series of rivers. By taking this route to the came, we avoided the thicker parts of the swamp as well as that wall of mangrove trees.

As I crossed the rivers, I got a sense of déjà vu. I think Lindsay and I passed through this area on our way home last time. Thankfully none of the wild Spinosaurs were lurking nearby…

We crossed the first river and camped for the night in the narrow “island” between the two rivers. The next day we continued moving east. We reached the swamps at about midday. Lindsay and the Raptors could handle most of what the swamp could throw at us, but I worried one of those leaping crocs would grab a Raptor and disappear under the surface.

I kept Lindsay marching behind us, hoping that if something did grab a Raptor, she would see it. There were a few snake attacks, (by that I mean, Lindsay attacked a few snakes) but we made it through the swamp mostly without incident. We had a bit of a brawl against a Sarchosuchus, who lunged at Snugglebug’s legs, causing him to rear up in fright. That battle came to an abrupt halt, when the big long-neck, in his panicked flailing, accidentally stomped the croc’s head into paste. 

Right as the sun began to set, our little train pulled out of the swamps to where I knew the cave was. It's a little hard to find. It's up against a cliff wall hidden by boulders, trees and uneven terrain. But there's a nice flat open area just outside the cave. It was the perfect place to put up a small shelter. I hadn't finished before nightfall, so we ate and bedded down till morning. By noon the little shelter was built, four walls, a bed, and some storage space. Just like the first

I decided to put off exploring the cave until the next morning. I spent the rest of the day checking over and equipping my Raptor troops. Most of the minor wounds had healed on them. I decided to leave Hawk outside just to be on the safe side. No point in doing extra damage to her

We got cozy and rested, but this area borders the swamps. It's a lot less friendly than the last place. We got ambushed by a few more snakes over night. Thankfully we had Lindsay. 

Despite the attacks I slept pretty good. We were doing great as far as I was concerned. We'd made it through another cave and collected an artifact with only one injury, I got to spend some play time with my Dino friends, and Snugglebug had saddlebags brimming with material I could use when we returned to the homestead. That was the last decent rest I've had for almost a week.

Crow was a little antsy when I coaxed him away from Hawk, but he relented. I hopped on his back the next morning and called for the other Raptors. In we went. Right off the bat I noticed something different about this cave. It was cold. Very cold. An almost icy breeze seemed to flow through it at random intervals. The combination of leather and chiton armor, did little to keep me warm. Even furry little Diddy, who curled himself around my shoulders, couldn't stop me from shivering. I pressed on. I didn't have any clothes that would help to keep me warm. The thought had barely crossed my mind.

I lit a torch to give myself a little extra heat, and we moved through the cave. Yet again we were accosted by angry bats, but it was nothing we couldn't handle. We came a to long drop, and carefully worked our way down the narrow ledges around it. That lead us to a set of tunnels. Another bat flew at us, but it fled when I fired an arrow at it. Seagull, being a bit bull headed, went sprinting after it. I didn't stop him. If only I had… I was overconfident. This cave didn't seem to have anything we couldn't handle. What's the harm if Seagull was out of sight? 

He disappeared around a corner, I called all the Raptors and we trotted after him. As we rounded the same corner, I saw that the tunnel opened into a big chamber. I was dimly aware of a splash from ahead. We trotted into the chamber, but before I could look around, a piercing shriek broke the silence, echoing around the cave walls, hurting my ears. It was Seagull. He was shrieking in agony. By the time I figured that out, it was too late. The shriek diminished to a gurgle, followed by silence. It was then I noticed that most of the chamber was filled with water. There were a few sizable rocky "islands" to stand on, one of which had an old ruin built into it. I didn't take the time to look. I had to find Seagull, but there wasn’t much left to find. The water was filled with red, and it was swarming with dark shapes that darted about. Dozens of them. Piranhas. All that was left of my friend were a few bloody bones. I screamed. I cried. I threw up, then I cried some more.

I don't know how long I slumped there, watching Seagulls blood dissipate into the water. It wasn't the violence of his death that got to me. I stabbed, skinned, and cut things apart on a daily basis. It's different when it's a friend. He'd jumped me across a lava lake. We'd gotten an artifact together. He'd shanked Ghost and saved my life. It hurts. It still hurts. It likely always will. His Raptor brethren all mourned his loss as well. They chittered sadly to one another. Over time, they gathered around me. I don't know if they wanted to comfort me, or if they wanted comfort from me, but either way I built us a fire by the ruins, using wood from Parakeet’s saddlebag to keep it burning. We curled up together. I hugged them. We grieved, slipping into a gloomy sleep.

I woke up, as cold and miserable as I was when I drifted off. I considered leaving the cave right then and there. I didn't want to see any more friends die. But in the end, my desire to find answers to this place’s questions, lead me to the decision to find the artifact first. I scoured as much of that cave as I could. We didn't find anything. The only other place to look ended up being the piranha-filled chamber. Somehow I needed to safely swim through freezing waters filled with murderous fish. I have mentioned that this place can go fuck itself right?

I had one idea, but it was beautiful in its simplicity. What was best way to make the water safe? Get rid of the fish. Those assholes had a reckoning coming. I spent a day-and-half killing those disgusting little demons. I returned to the surface once or twice to warm up, check on Hawk, and gather more wood for the fire in the cave. I also left Diddy up there. He’s not a fan of being underwater. 

It was hard, cold work. The water was like ice. But as I've said in the past, piranhas are stupid. I’d wade in, wait for them to come charging at me, scramble out of the water, with them nipping at my heels, then spear the little monsters as they tried to escape the shallows. It’s the same “piranha poking” strategy I’ve been using to catch breakfast for months. Some of the little shits came sailing right out of the water, trying to take a chunk out of me. 

The Raptors picked off these bull headed fools as they flopped helplessly about, gasping for air. After a few hours of watching me, Crow began to mimic me. He'd wade in, waiting for the fish, then he'd snap them up and toss them ashore, only retreating when a larger group swam at him. He was even better at it than I was frankly. The idiot fish never even realized it was a trap. After hours of this, I couldn't immediately see any more darting shadows.

I spent the rest of the day outside, warming my frozen toes and trying to dry my clothes. I took a few hours to rest, and soothe myself with Lindsay and Snugglebug’s company, but I was too angry and sad to sleep for long. Everyone outside was clearly agitated by the fact that one of our Raptor friends was missing, which just made me hurt more.

Once I'd gotten warmed and rested, I formed a plan. While we were massacreing those little shit fish, I did spot several tunnels along the walls. Naturally they were also filled with water. It was clear, if I wanted the artifact, I'd have to get wet again. I decided to bring all the Raptors into the cave with me, then leave two in the chamber with the ruins. Finch and Robin would stay behind. Parakeet, Crow, and I would try swimming through the tunnels. I worried if I brought all of them, they'd get stuck in the narrow passages and drown.

Crow and Parakeet were relatively strong swimmers. They couldn't outswim a fish or anything, but they definitely swam faster than I could. I'd cling to Crow’s back while he swam us through the tunnels, with Parakeet there to cover us. Once I was ready, I set the plan in motion. Progress was slow. There were still a few piranhas hiding in the tunnels, and the water was absolutely freezing. But I speared the fish from Crow’s back and we pushed on. Soon we had to dive completely beneath the water to continue. I held my breath and braced myself for the cold. It was miserable, I honestly thought we would all drown before we found the surface again. But finally we emerged into a watery grotto. My whole body was numb by then, and the grotto had no dry space to rest. I had to cling to Crow and wrap myself around him to get any sort of warmth into me. Luckily he didn't seem to mind. 

The grotto, sadly, lead to yet another submerged tunnel. Still not completely warm, I urged us onward, wanting this journey to be over. After another harrowing swim through the tunnels, we finally found what we were looking for; the pulsing glow of the artifact, hovering there atop some rocks. It wasn't the right color. It was blue. I was angry about that at first. But in the end, I'd need the blue artifacts too.

My fingers were completely numb by now, but I grabbed the artifact and pushed on. There were two tunnels. The one we came from was completely underwater, but it was relatively safe otherwise. The other appeared to have less water, but I had no clue if anything was lurking in that tunnel. I chose the new tunnels. I couldn't garuntee I'd survive the cold swimming through those first two again

I was fairly sure I was hypothermic as it was. So I guided us into the other tunnel, the icy water was up to Crow's belly (and my thighs). But i could handle this. I just had to get through this and get back to the chamber. As we slid into a tunnel, we all stopped when massive hiss echoed through the chamber. Something huge growled. I turned only briefly to confirm what I already knew. A Sarco. A big one. It must have been close to thirty feet. I had walked right by him, mistaking him for another of the caves many boulders and rocky surfaces. He'd ignored us until now. Now he was moving straight for us, and we were trapped in the tunnel. 

I didn't waist any time. I called for a retreat and we dashed as fast as we could through the watery tunnel. Luck wasn't with us. The tunnel descended under water. I took a deep breath as Crow dove in, swimming for dear life, Parakeet hot on his heel. I had my eyes closed for a time, but I felt us decending, then we were moving forward again until finally, we were rising. I risked opening my eyes and looked around. There was surface above us, but the croc was rapidly gaining. He would overtake Parakeet in seconds. I wasn't thinking then. I let go of Crow and pulled out my spear. I swam as fast as I could. I barely got there in time to jam my spear into the crocs open mouth. It was just enough. The beast’s jaws clamped down on nothing but water as Parakeet swam away. I left my spear there and went for the surface, my lungs were starting to sting at this point. I was startled to see Parakeet change course and go straight passed me, back towards the monster croc.

I looked over my shoulder, Parakeet likely saved my life. The croc was coming for us once again. Parakeet somehow got himself under it, wrapping his body around its neck under its jaws. I had to help him, but I needed air first. I didn't even notice the cold at this point. I couldn't lose another friend, I just couldn't. I breached the surface, took a deep breath, then prepared to plunge back down towards the battling dinosaurs, but a set of jaws grabbed my shoulder. It was Crow. I tried to yell at him, but I could barely move. He dragged me onto land, where I saw Finch and Robin. Somehow, we’d come full circle. We were back in the main chamber where the other two Raptors were waiting for us.  


I looked into the water. I saw it was bloody. Too bloody. Who's blood was it? I tried to move myself but I could barely move my limbs. Why? I took a deep breath. I had to stop panicking. My survival training kicked in. I couldn’t move because I was very close to hypothermic. Crow had saved me. But Parakeet was still in the water. I wrenched myself to my knees and tried to crawl, but I couldn’t. After I few seconds, I saw a green shape emerge from the foggy red in the water below. It was Parakeet. He looked undamaged, but he didn’t move. He never surfaced. He had drowned.

The grief hit me like a truck. I’m guessing Parakeet kicked his sickle claw right into the croc’s throat. Whatever he'd done, it had bled out rapidly. Parakeet’s problem had always been stamina. After I'd saved him, he put everything he had into killing that thing. When he'd finished struggling, he'd been too exhausted to swim. My three Raptors all curled up on or near me, burying me in their warmth. I felt numb. I realized that was just as physical as it was emotional. I stripped off all my clothes and huddled against the Raptors, trying to warm myself up. They scooched closer to me. I knew they were grieving just as much as I was. 

I almost dove back into the water after a while to try and retrieve Parakeet’s body, but Crow darted in front of me. The look he gave me just broke me. It was like he knew his friend was gone, and he was begging me not to die too. I fell against him. Wrapping my arms tight around him. He nuzzled me close. Robin and Finch joined in our group hug. After that I got us out of that chamber as fast as I could. I left my fallen friends there in the cold waters of that cave, and I don’t know if I can ever forgive myself.

I don't think I stopped crying at all on the journey out of the cave. Lindsay, Hawk, and Snugglebug were waiting. They looked... well... I think they saw that four Raptors went into the cave, and only three came out. I hugged every single one of them, got us fed, and then I sat by the roaring fire until sleep took me. I woke up, still naked, but buried in Raptors, including Hawk.

My heart was heavy, but my clothes were dry. I got dressed and got us fed, then I got us all moving home. We got there early the next morning. Despite happy greetings from all of my other friends, I couldn't bring myself to show them the cheer I usually had. I made them a fire when the sun went down, then I went inside and cried myself to sleep. That was yesterday. This morning I carved a large stone into the shape of a tombstone.

Once it was finished, I began carving names. Toy Chica, Bonnie, Hank, Pigeon, Iggy, Paula, Gracie, and finally, Parakeet and Seagull. I miss you guys. I’m sorry.

After that, I came in to tell this tale. My friends deserve to have their stories told. The speedy little Parakeet, who burned himself out so easily, and the big slow-witted goof Seagull. I love you both. I'm not sure what to do now. Maybe it would be better to bunker down here. Then I won't have to put my friends at risk. Maybe I've given too much love and affection to these animals. My dad would say it holds me back. It's too late now. I care too much. If any more of them die, my heart will break all over again. I don't know what to do.


	10. Entry 25: Life Finds a Way

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rayne and her dino friends find different ways to cope with their grief.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to add in the bit about the colored light beams in caves... I don't remember why I decided to add that in...

You'll forgive me if I’m a wee bit philosophical for this entry. I haven’t completely shaken off the melancholy from losing Seagull and Parakeet. The Raptor pack just isn’t the same without them.

But anyway, I returned from the cave a week ago. I was too upset to write about them last time, but lucky for me still remember enough. Let’s talk about the artifacts I found.

The one I collected from the lava cave was labled as “The Artifact of the Massive” and it looks like a teal robot pineapple. The inscription on its pedastle read “Size alone can sometimes mean the difference between survival and oblivion.” I assume it’s telling me to tame some big animals… Way ahead of you, you stupid pineapple. Oh well. That’s two I’ve collected that will unlock the Green Obelisk.

The second artifact I collected sort of looks like a metal pair of hands reaching for the sky. That cave took two friends, and my best spear from me, but I guess it wanted to punch me in the heart one last time. The thing was called the “Artifact of the Pack.” The inscription read “Stronger than any lone creature, one may die but the pack will survive.” Thanks for rubbing it in.

As I said, the light beam that the second artifact was floating in was blue in color. The other two had been green. I’m assuming this means its meant for the Blue Obelisk to the north. I remember the shapes at the base of the Green one so I know it doesn’t go there. I’m really just guessing, but if things are consistant, I still have one more artifact to find to gain access to the Green Obelisk, two more for the Blue, and three for the Red. I think I need to take some time before I go looking for caves again. I have to find a way to get myself out of this funk.

The only thing getting me out of bed was routine. Wake up, get dressed, eat, fill the dino food troughs, tend or harvest the crops, and spend some time building or tinkering. Once the sun starts to set, I build the nightly fire and hang out with my friends, eat some dinner, and then sleep. Generally I spend the nights dreaming about all the horrible near death experiences I’ve had since I got here… or the friends I’ve lost.

I've kept to the bare bones of the routine this week. I've been pretty numb. Parakeet and Seagull’s deaths hit me pretty hard. Sure, I lost more friends during Ghost’s attack... but I think I was prepared for death then. I had no delusions that I would get through that fight without casualties. With the caves, I'd been confident. I'd been careful. I'd conquered two of them almost without incident. Then I lose two friends and nearly die of hypothermia in the third. It had been a bit of a shock. On top of it, I'd been playing tug-o-war with Seagull only a day or two earlier. 

So yeah. Fatalistic nihilism has settled over me like a big dark philosophical cloud. My friends have taken notice of how despondent I've become. I could see it affecting their mood and it made me hate myself even more. 

After almost a week of moping, my friends stopped putting up with my broody bullshit. It was Snugglebug and Lindsay who snapped me out of it a few days ago. I'd lit a fire for all of them to enjoy, before trudging back to my house to sulk some more. Before I made it back, Snugglebug’s head came snaking out of the darkness and knocked me clean off my feet with the biggest nuzzling he could muster. Goof probably came close to crushing me to death to be honest. When he lifted his head and I finally got back to my feet, Lindsay's snout cane out of nowhere and began pushing me back to the fire. Its kind of hard to resist when the thing shoving you is bigger than an elephant.

I relented pretty quickly. Their plea was clear. They missed me. I hugged Lindsay's snout tightly, before joining them. The second I sat down, a snuggle-invasion began. Every single one of my friends, from the Compys to the scorpion, to the unicorn (who still needs a name), all of them approached me, looking for love. 

Its hard to be sad when you’re buried in tiny adorable dinosaurs, a monkey, and several nuzzling Raptor heads. It still hurts some three days later. But I'm getting my spirit back, little by little. The melancholy that's surrounded the homestead is finally dissipating. 

I’m still thinking a lot about what I should do. I desperately want to continue gathering artifacts and trying to figure this place out, but could I live with myself if I got more of my friends killed? Maybe I should stop getting myself in trouble. It's just not fair to these animals to keep exploiting them. Is it? Stay here and get eaten, or plunge into danger to die or lose more beloved dinosaur friends? It's a choice that continues to haunt me.

Luckily for me... I've been given a distraction. It seems Crow and Hawk got bored waiting for me to stop brooding. Hawk’s burn has healed nicely. The scar just makes her look like a badass. But anyway, I saw the two of them (there really isn’t any other way to describe it) prancing around together. The usual “deadly Raptor sprint” had been replaced with this… light-footed hopping jog. Every so often Crow would jog right up to Hawk and stick his nose right in her face. I hadn’t seen the Raptors get that close to each other for anything other than biting. I could melt away at the cuteness of the Raptor courtship display. It was just really jarring to see one Raptor with a missing tail, and the other with a grizzled eye scar, look so adorable. I noticed more odd behavior yesterday. They went dashing off together, and later I watched them sniffing around odd places on the homestead.

It culminated yesterday morning. I walked outside, and found Hawk curled up on the ground a few yards from my door. She raised her head curiously at my approach. It was... an odd position. She was in a perfect circle. Crow trotted up a few seconds later, dropping a dead Dodo next to her. Surprisingly, he’d already torn the feathers off of it. She chirped greatfully to him. I expected her to get up, but instead, Crow stepped on the thing and started tearing chunks off for her. There was (relatively) fresh meat in the carnivore’s food trough. Why'd he need to kill a Dodo? I wasn't mad. The carnivores would on occasion bring carcasses home. I wasn't a fan of killing non-threatening creatures, but I wasn't about to get between a Raptor and its food either. “Why’s he feeding Hawk? She can hunt for herself...” I thought. “Why’s she sitting in a perfect circle? Almost like she’s protecting something…” 

Finally it clicked. Man I'm slow sometimes. They must be nesting! They're parents! Cautiously and carefully I approached my friends. They chittered at me a little, showing a bit of discomfort at my presence but they didn't bite or snap at me. I got close, and sure enough, Hawk had curled herself around a single egg. It was mostly black, with pretty bright red spots. I didn't get too close. I wish I could, but I have no desire to deal with "angry momma Hawk."

I have to tell you... I'm pretty excited about this development. I started helping Crow care for Hawk. I brought her meat, but she'd only accept certain types. I finally figured out it was Herbivore meat she was craving. Im guessing the breeding process must have exausted her, so she needed her more natural food source in the form of plant-fed creatures. I took Lindsay out hunting, and we brought home a taper-pig like creature (which I now know are called Phiomia). She scarfed that up happily.

As it got dark, I noticed Hawk wrap herself more tightly around her egg. She needed warmth. I built the other dinosaurs their bonfire, then I returned to Hawk’s nest and built three small fires in a circle around her and kept them burning as long as I could. She looked at me and chirped gratefully. She even loosened herself up and relaxed a bit. Without getting to close to her egg, I reached out to give her a congratulatory stroke. She accepted.

I was up all night watching the fires. I skipped the routine this morning to get some sleep. I’m preparing myself for another night of keeping the egg warm. I might have to adjust my sleep schedule. Who knows how long it will be before the egg hatches. I can’t wait! My ship sailed!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Baby Raptor?


	11. Entry 26: BABY!!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> BABY!!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Few changes in format. Feel free to let me know if they don't work. Rayne's keeping a log of events of the week, rather than just telling the weekly story...

Omg. Omg. Omg. It hatched!! Baby fucking Raptor! Omg it's adorable! It's only been two days since I last wrote. Holy shit that was fast. Write more later. Baby!

-

Ok. The little tyke is asleep with her momma, poppa, and her Raptor aunt and uncle. I moved my writings to the first floor so I can watch over the pack if I need to. 

Oh man. Where to start? So yeah, the egg hatched after two days. A two-day incubation period. What the hell is up with that? I’m putting a pin in that for later. Things are just fast on this island. 

But anyway, I was out visiting with Lindsay in her watery spot. I was a bit tired, as I hadn’t quite adjusted to my new sleep schedule… which I guess I’m already finished with. I had just been “booped” off my feet by Lindsay’s nose when I heard the barks of a Raptor. That was their “Pay attention to me!” noise. I looked up the hill and saw Crow. He was hopping up and down and calling out to me.

“Holy shit! Is it happening already?” I sprinted over to the nest. Hawk had unwound herself from her egg and sure enough, it was wobbling about on its own. I crawled right up to it with Hawk, while Crow sprinted off to the food trough. He was back half a minute later with a massive mouthful of meat that he dropped on the ground. After that, the three of us watched their baby be born.

The shell finally cracked, and a wicked little sickle-clawed foot burst out, followed by another. The egg rolled at that point, pointing the little legs skyward, but Crow leaned in, and used his nose to roll it back upright, seconds later, more of the shell cracked, the little legs found the ground and the little creature pushed itself onto its feet for the first time, splintering the rest of the egg. It still had a sizable rounded chunk covering its head like a helmet. I carefully plucked it off, and the little beauty got its first glimpse of daylight. It’s hard to explain, but baby Raptors somehow pull off “dangerous looking” and “adorable” at the same time. For the most part they look like miniature versions of their parents. Their claws and teeth look fully formed already, but they’ve still got the big heads and eyes you’d expect on infants. 

Hawk and Crow’s bundle of joy was a beautiful little girl. She peered quizzically about, eyeing her mom, her dad, and finally me. She squeaked when she saw me and retreated towards her mother, who pinned her down with her arm and began licking her clean of egg yolk.

As giddy as I was, I moved away to give Crow some room to say “hi” to his new daughter. She's a newborn so I'm not sure if her colors will change as she grows, but for right now, she's got her dad’s jet black scales, peppered with grey along her belly, but she's got her mom’s maroon plumage. 

I have the perfect name for her. She's the daughter of Hawk and Crow. Her name is Raven. After her mom gave her a bath, and her dad gave her a good nuzzling, the little goof dove headfirst into the pile of meat her dad brought her. Christ she was voracious. I think she consumed her own weight in just a minute or two…

After the meat pile had vanished, and little Raven released an alarmingly loud belch, Hawk and Crow chirped at her. To my surprise, they guided her over to me.

I could barely contain myself (so cute). I knelt down and tried to look non-threatening while I held out a welcoming hand towards the tiny Raptor who peered timidly at me from behind her mom’s legs. Hawk gave her an encouraging chirp, and she cautiously emerged. She kept her distance at first, stretching herself as far as she could to sniff my finger tips. Then Crow leaned over and nudged her in the butt, which sent her reeling, and she fell into an adorable heap right at my knees.

I could tell she was still frightened, so I didn’t reach for her. I just half smiled at her, and cocked my head. I tried to mimic the head movements I see the Raptors use when they socialize. Once she picked herself up and spent some time watching me, I spoke a bit too. “Hi!” I held out my hand and let her sniff it. “I’m Rayne! Welcome to the world! I’m going to call you Raven.” Just to emphasize the point I gave her nose a tiny tap as I said her name.

I think by then, she’d decided I wasn’t a threat. She took a few steps closer to me and even climbed into my lap so she could sniff at my face and examine me closely. I let her explore. Finally she leaned back and tilted her head while gazing at me.

“Craw?” she squeaked at me. I slowly moved my hand towards her and she didn’t shy away… I don’t remember much about the half hour that followed. I went into “cuteness overload.” There were pets. There were scritches. There were snugs. There were even belly rubs. By the end of it, baby Raven was my bestest friend.

Papa Crow ran off for a few minutes, and when he returned, he had Robin and Finch with him. Begrudgingly, I set down my adorable little murder bird, and let her parents introduce her to her Raptor pack mates. I stayed close to them and joined in their activities when I could. They ran around with Raven, keeping it slow so her little legs could keep up. They barked and called at her. I couldn’t figure out what they were doing, but I think they were just… teaching her to be a Raptor. She would mimic their sounds and they would reward her with a snug.

There was a bit of drama when Samson, plodded over in the afternoon. The Raptors got really defensive when he approached, barking and trilling at him. Samson, being the more stubborn of my friends, started barking right back. I ran over to Samson, and put a soothing hand on his snout. I whistled to the Raptors to back off as well, and they did. I don’t think they were mad at Samson. I think they’re just in “protect the baby” mode. I noticed little Raven gawking at me as I guided Samson away. Heh. I think I just became her hero. I fed the Trike a big pile of his favorite fruits to make him feel better.

I managed to get a few basic chores done while the Raptors continued to teach their little one. As evening fell, momma Hawk ran off. I had to cringe when she returned a quarter of an hour later with a dead Lystrosaur. I hurriedly ushered my own Lystrosaur friends into the house while the Raptors encouraged little Raven to eat. I decided not to watch the eating process. It can get a little messy, and I’m never a fan of seeing dead Lystrosaurs.

After a good hour of chomping and tearing at the carcass, trying to find the tasty bits, Raven was all tuckered out. The Raptors guided her to the fire pit. She watched in awe as many more of my friends arrived to bask in the fire’s warmth. Her eyes were as big as saucers when Lindsay stomped up.

I got the fire going and everyone got comfortable. The Raptor pack slept in a circle around the baby. They all bunched very close together too. I was afraid they wouldn’t let me say goodnight, but surprisingly, Hawk scooched over to let me into the Raptor circle. Little Raven was lying sleepily between momma Hawk and poppa Crow. She perked up a little bit when I knelt down, and she squeaked happily when I gave her some more pets. I sat there with her till she was fast asleep. Only then did I give the rest of my Raptors a big hug too. Hawk and Crow got the biggest.

I shared some love with all my friends, before coming in to write. I’m really missing having an alarm clock. I’d like to wake up with the baby so I can keep an eye on her. Maybe it makes me a terrible Dino-keeper, but I’m choosing to trust her pack to look after her. I’m gonna get some sleep. It’s been to long since I slept properly. 

Before I do though… I'm gonna go gush over the baby some more. Sleepy baby Raptor. Eeeeeee.

-

It’s been a single day. When Raven hatched yesterday, she barely stood higher than my shin. Now, a day later, she's up to my damn knee. I'm not even going to be bothered to put any brain cells towards wondering what the Hell that's about, but it does explain her voracious appetite. So I woke up early and checked on the baby, who was still asleep with the other Raptors. Then I ran to my meat shed. That’s when I realized I was out of fresh meat. All I had was jerky. Thankfully the Dilos had managed to take down a Phiomia. I carved off what they hadn’t eaten and used to fill the food trough. I left to take care of the herbivores food, and when I returned I found the Raptors were awake and standing around the food trough. At this point I panicked a little, because I didn’t see Raven anywhere. 

But then I finally realized the Raptors were just standing around the food trough. They weren’t eating. Curiously I approached and sure enough, I found little Raven swimming in chuncks of meat and viscera. She devoured just about everything in that food trough. 

She get’s hungry like that a lot, and now I know why. She’s fueling some… abnormally fast growth. The rest of the day consisted of more Raptor lessons and playtime. At the end of the day Raven was feeling more confident. At the nightly fire she began approaching some of the smaller friends to say hello. The Compys, the Dilos, and even the Lystrosaurs (I was grateful when Hawk gave a little warning bark when Raven approached them, I was worried she think of them as “food”). I spent the whole time sticking close to the pack and the baby. I think we really are best friends at this point…

After I got the fire going she climbed into my lap, and that was where I noted her astonishing growth. A few inches in 24 hours. I don’t think grass grows that fast. She's going to need lots of herbivore meat to fuel some healthy growth. I’m gonna do my part to help her reach adulthood… It’s looking like that won’t take too long.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Little Raven is the best Raptor ever.


	12. Entry 27: Raising Raven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rayne chronicles her new Raptors growth.

Okay. My implant says it’s Sunday, so it’s been five days since the baby hatched. Little Raven isn’t so little anymore. It's been less than a week and she's up to my waist. Bizarely, she seems to be socially maturing at an accelerated rate as well. I have no explanation for any of this. One day she was a timid baby who was mostly too afraid to leave her pack mates, the next she was endlessly sprinting around with wreckless abandon… like a toddler. Christ, where does the energy come from? She spends hours zipping from one end of our home peninsula to the other, visiting with friends, sniffing anything she finds interesting, or just running in circles, because why the hell not? She’s fast as hell too.

Keeping her fed has been a never-ending struggle, but the homestead has helped out (Lindsay dragged a few big catches out of the sea). I've been making sure to stay with her as much as I can. Every day she gets bigger, stronger, and more loveable (if a bit less cute). She’s learning quick too. 

It was the third day after hatching that she finally got brave enough to leave her parent’s side, and the first thing she did, was try to join the Dilophosaur’s game of "wrestle the scorpion." I kept a close eye, as did Hawk and Crow. She got a bit too aggressive with Hector the Dilo, and, despite being smaller than he was, she full on tackled him. Seconds later, her angry parents were on her, squawking and hissing angrily as she cowered away from them. I ran over to Hector. She'd nipped him pretty hard, but nothing serious. There wasn’t even any blood. While I was comforting the Dilo, little Raven trotted up and dropped a chunk of meat at his feet. Was that an apology? I'm always shocked by the intelligence these animals show.

With that incident behind us, “wrestle the scorpion” continued. Slayer took all of the abuse in stride, as he always does. He loves playing games with his little friends, and he didn’t seem to mind the new addition. He kept on lightly pinching at his attackers and playfully carrying them around when he caught them. Raven seemed to have a lot of fun, but by the next day she was already to big to safely play with the scorpion. We learned that the hard way. She full on jumped right onto Slayer’s back, and I seriously thought she'd killed him when I heard the crack. Thankfully he’s ok. The crack on his shell is healing, and he’s on his feet, but he was out of comission for a day or two.

Raven seemed to understand she'd made an error. She didn't run when her parents ran up to scold her. She just stood there, head down. We moved her to another part of the homestead after that. She's learned to play with Lindsay and the other Raptors. 

Lindsay seems to have taken a liking to her (at least I think so). She happily stomps around after Raven, exaggerating her movements, making her look more like a big scary monster as she chases the terrified young Raptor. I laugh my ass off every time. 

I started spending one-on-one time with her on day four. We’d wrestle, or play tug-a-war, and then I’d go about trying to teach her. She learned the whistle commands after a few short lessons, and she seems to have retained the knowledge. I’m not sure if it’s because she’s young, or if she’s just smart, but shes a damn information sponge. I fully plan to take advantage of it. In the wild the only skills a baby Raptor can absorb are survival skills. Raven’s developing those too mind you, but I’m also teaching her all kinds of crazy stuff. I started with some typical tricks on our first day. Sit, stay, roll over (it’s more of a somersault with her), and fetch. By then the sun was setting. Her pack came to collect her for some “Raptor lessons” while I went to build the nightly fire.

She scared the hell out of me late that night. Some time after I'd fallen asleep, I was awoken by Diddy (he sleeps on my pillow) shrieking into my ear. Second’s later a dark shadowy shape leapt onto my bed… I almost jumped out my second story window. But when I shrieked, the intruder squeaked and retreated. I managed to get my torch lit, and found Raven cowering in a corner. Not only had she figured out how to unlatch my window (from the outside no less) but she’d also figured out the stairs, and the little gate at the top of the stairs. 

I let her off easy. She just wanted to snug with her best human friend. She stayed with me for the night. I'm not sure why she's taken such a shine to me. Maybe she’s imprinted on me as much as she did with her mom and dad. She's gonna be too big to enter my house and sleep in my bed soon, so I’ll enjoy it while it lasts. That was last night. Today was more of the same. Feed the baby, play with the baby, feed the baby again, teach the baby, feed the baby some more, calm the baby down, and finally… feed the baby.

This whole experience has been nice. Exactly the distraction I needed after the tragedy in that cave. I'll write more when more happens. Tomorrow I'm gonna take her and the Raptors out and make sure she knows how to hunt.

-

Aw shit, she's up to my tits. It’s been another two days. Raven’s speedy learning continues. She learned to hunt and kill very fast. She seems to know the Raptor “flying kill tackle” instinctually. More importantly she knows to differentiate between friend and foe. She can kill a wild Dodo if she sees one, but she knows she's not allowed to hurt the ones on the homestead. So glad that was an easy lesson for her. She's not mine obviously, but damn she makes me proud. 

I didn’t get to teach her anything today. Her pack… Well they spent the day beating the shit outta her. I was pretty alarmed. It was more sparring than actual violence, but with Raptors all I saw was a flurry of claws. Her packmates stood in a circle around her, and they took turns fighting with her. I tried to stop them, but her parents kept squawking at me. I kept a close eye. They’re a bit rougher than usual, but this seems to be a developmental “game” of sorts. No claws are used, and teeth are only employed for nipping. It looked pretty vicious but in the end nobody was injured. It went on until little Raven was exhausted. When it was over, the pack went into “aftercare” mode. They brought her food and all four snugged up close to her. Raven didn’t seem the least bit angry with them. I’m still iffy on this practice, but if its just a thing Raptors do… I’ll just have make sure I'm paying attention.

-

Oh dread, she’s up to my head. Three days since my last notes. I’m a bit worried we’ve hit the “teenage” years. Raven’s getting all willfull and independent. She managed to beat Finch one night during a “sparring” session, and shes been acting superior ever since. We had a bit of an incident. She threw a hissyfit one afternoon when I caught her being mean to Petey. She kept harassing him and nipping at his haunches. I was having none of that. Petey earned his retirement. So I yelled at her. She straight up snarled at me in response. She puffed herself up and bared her teeth, trying to intimidate me. Somehow… I stood my ground and shouted “No!” at her. She just growled, before dashing off into the trees. 

She was heading right for the swamp of course, so I went running after her. I found her under attack by Troodons. God I hate those little fuckers. She’d killed one on her own, but by the time I arrived they’d knocked her off her feet, and there was even one perched on top of her, trying to get at her throat. I sprinted in as quietly as I could and punted the little fucker right off Raven’s chest. 

They all ganged up on me. Kept smacking me in the kidneys with their heads and biting at my hands to make me drop my weapon. Their narco-spit and the head butts to the gut were slowing me down, but somehow I managed to kill all four. Cut one little bastard’s head clean off. I was on my knees and bleeding when it was over. I looked up when I saw the clawed feet in front of me. For a second I thought it was another Troodon, but then I saw the sickle claw. It was Raven. She looked scared. I reached up to stroke her, and I whispered “Get Poppa.”

A minute or two later, she was back with Crow. I climbed onto his back and we all made our way back home. Raven hasn’t acted out since then. She’s sticking with the Raptor pack and seems to be on her best behavior. Ugh. I’m still recovering two days later… I’m gonna go give Raven a hug… I don’t want her to feel too guilty.

-

It’s been another two days. Raven was born just under two weeks ago. I'm pretty sure she’s fully-grown now. She's as tall as her dad, maybe even a centimeter or two taller. That makes her roughly 7 feet tall. She's big is what I'm saying. She's a big girl. She’s still clumsy. She hasn't gotten the hang of her limbs yet, so she still trips over her own feet constantly.

Her parents don't seem to be keeping as close an eye on her as they were, I suppose in there eyes she's all grown up now. I’m torn on how to feel about that.

Any time she doesn't spend with her Raptor family, she spends following me around. She's always so excited when she makes me smile. I want to be careful though. She's my friend. But I need to be sure she's still... well... a Raptor. I want to be sure she'll function without me. I can’t let her be too… domesticated? If I manage to escape this Island, and I have to leave her behind… I want to know she’ll be okay.

I like to think I'm "befriending" these animals, as opposed to subjugating, or domesticating them. With young ones though, you might subjugate them on accident by raising them wrong. I guess I'm having parental anxiety. Wish I could be as easy going as Hawk and Crow were being. I'll just keep doing what I think is right. That's all I can do really. It's served me well so far.

-

Two more days have passed. I’ve been watching Raven and the Raptors play their game with Lindsay. Raven seems to have gotten used to her limbs. She's fast. I thought her dad was fast. She makes him look like an old man, and all the other Raptors look like snails. It's kind of insane how fast that Raptor can move. When those feet start moving they're a blur. 

Lindsay however, continues to show off how clever she is. She figured out quick that she couldn't keep up with the little speed demon. So she changed tactics, freaking read the patterns, and when Raven sped in to attack once again, she was met with Lindsay's front foot. She had her feet knocked right out from under her. At the speed she was going... I swear her momentum carried her a good fifteen feet (in the least graceful way imaginable). Shocked she didn't break a bone.

After watching that, I went up to her in the evening and took a really good look at her. She’s beautiful. She kept her color scheme. She’s got her mom’s deep maroon plumage on her arms, neck, and tail, but her scales are a beautiful jet black that almost gleams (at least when she’s clean). Looking at her, I can see traces of mom and dad in her body structure. Hawk is powerfully built, with strong legs and square shoulders. Crow is leaner, with longer legs. Raven combines her mom’s strong frame with Crow’s long powerful legs. She’s… a hell of a specimen. I’m proud to have had a hand in raising her. We all worked together to keep her well fed during her growth and she’s gotten lots of exercise and been on several hunts, so her muscles are all strong and well developed.

I wonder how she’ll feel about carrying me?

-

You’ll forgive me oh reader of questionable existance, if my writing is a little sloppy. The Island managed to incapacitate me… but I’ll go ahead and admit it was mostly my own damn fault… I've been chomped, stabbed, nipped, bitten, scratched, smacked, and a bunch of other painful words, by terrifying monsters, but I’m pretty sure this counts as the hardest hit I’ve taken. So what was it you ask that bested your plucky heroine? Was it the jaws of a mighty T. Rex? The spiked tail of a stegosaurus? The sting of some insectile horror? No… it was a fucking tree branch.

I tried riding Raven. We were taking it slow. First I demonstrated for her by riding around on her dad in front of her. After that, I got Crow’s saddle off of him and tentatively began to strap Raven into it. I got it on her without any fuss, and she actually lowered herself to make it easier for me to climb on her back. I mentioned she's smart right? I taught her the basics, getting myself used to her and her used to me. It all went well.

I had to grip her tight with my thighs to stay balanced while she kept picking up speed. I can't even tell you how thrilling the experience was. God she's fast. She’s like a living motorbike.

While riding Crow, I've gotten used to reading his movements when I ride. When he's running through trees, I see him duck his head and I know I need to stay low. He sees branches that I don't. I've taken a few hits from trees in the past. Really as your riding improves, you get better at avoiding them.

Raven, for the most part, handles just like her dad does. I was feeling pretty confident, so I let her run even faster. I saw the cluster of trees rapidly approaching, I was ready to duck as usual, but Raven.., she moves similar, but not completely like her dad. She shifted herself differently when she was preparing to duck under something. I didn't read her move right. On Crow I might still have been able to dodge, but Raven was just too damn fast. 

As a result, I was sitting perfectly up right when the branch of the tree made contact with my forehead. I was dimly aware of my helmet shattering and my body popping free of the restraints of the saddle as the lights went out.

Not sure how long I was out. I woke up with Raven licking my forehead. There seemed to be three of her. And someone had turned on a jackhammer inside my skull. We made it home safe, but I think I’m going to be out of commission for a while… I'm still dizzy and seeing double. I'm really glad I was wearing that helmet.

I'm pretty sure all my childhood memories are still there so hopefully I don't have serious brain damage. It's gonna be a while before I can ride Raven with confidence. Excuse me while I pass out…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Speedy little mutant. I totally jacked up the "imprint bonus" when I was playing, so the Raptor that Raven is based on (also called Raven) could sprint faster than most of the in game textures could load.


	13. Entry 28: Raven's Bitch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rayne provides a brief update on her recovery and her homestead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shorty this time, sorry about that. Trying to figure out how to order some elements of of the over all plot

It’s been about a week. The world finally stopped spinning after a day, and the headache has finally gone away. The first thing I did, once I was back on my feet, was craft myself an even sturdier riding helmet to help prevent this kind of damage to my skull in the future. It’s multiple layers of cloth and leather padding, reinforced with layers of chiton. I don’t think I can handle many more head injuries, so I hope it works.

Once again, the dinosaurs were able to feed themselves while I was out of commission. Raven brought me a dead animal at least once a day. Gift-giving seems to be the Raptor’s form of apology. Maybe she blames herself for getting me hurt. It really wasn't her fault that I hit my head at twenty miles an hour (something like that? I have no clue how fast she actually is). I’ve been giving her lots of love and reassurance. 

But lets move past that. I’ve started up riding lessons again. If I can master riding on Raven... it will be a game changer. She's faster than any of the predators I've seen. She can almost run circles around the likes of Lindsay and even most other Raptors. It means I might have a relatively safe way to keep exploring. It means I might not be done finding caves after all, because with Raven I don't need to worry about putting others in danger. Even if danger finds us, she can outrun it.

Let me demonstrate what I mean by describing what happened two days ago. We were out on a ride a bit farther from home than I was comfortable. I dismounted and ate a bit of lunch on the beach while Raven jogged around, sniffing at anything that caught her fancy. I noticed some bushes rustling, and whistled for Raven to come back, and she did, just as a dark blue Raptor emerged from the brush. Wierdly, he was all by himself. I’ve seen it happen before, but it’s rare. Raptors always travel with a pack. My best guess for these “lone wolves” is they’re in the process of building (or rebuilding) their pack. 

This guy came out looking as threatening and ferocious as he could. He was tall, and strong looking, but he had nothing on Raven. She humiliated that Raptor. She made him into her little whimpering bitch... 

When it was clear his intimidation tactics weren’t working on her, he charged in, teeth bared and body lowered, ready to pounce on her. For the next ten minutes I could only watch in bewilderment. It was almost like she thought it was a game. Every time the enemy Raptor, bit, pounced, scratched, charged, or jumped, Raven simply wouldn't be there when his blows landed. It was like a dance, or a martial arts display. Poor guy never even touched her. She makes everything, myself included, look like they're moving in slow motion.

After a while I started to feel bad for him. His frustration soon became fear as he realized he was in way over his head. He tried to run, but of course, Raven easily cut him off. By then I’d seen enough. He was exhausted. It only took a single tranq arrow to put him to sleep. His name is Bluejay, and he's integrated into the Raptor pack nicely.

Raven is like that with just about every new animal she meets. Not much can touch her. The only danger I can think of would be me getting separated from Raven. Hell, a tree branch could do that. There’s also the danger of something large sneaking up on us. That's really only a danger in or near water though. Animals like the Crocs, Spinos, and several others hunt by setting traps. We’ll have to be vigilant. I suppose there's also a danger of getting attacked from the sky, I’ve seen some scarily large birds flying around, but I don’t think any of them could catch my girl. 

I ride Raven every day now. I’m doing my damndest to acclimate to her extreme speed. It's like riding a motorcycle that can zigzag, jump, and weave. Mostly I let her do most of the work. I just point her in a direction. She seems to really enjoy our rides together as well. Furthermore her dad seems happy he doesn't have to carry me anymore. I still saddle him up and take him running sometimes. He's a friend. I can't let him think he's been forgotten.

Oh, there was an interesting event last night. A wild female Parasaur wandered onto my homestead. Her braying and a bunch of racket in the middle of the night woke me. This pretty green girl had gotten her head caught in my cooking pot. I went running after her in just my underpants, trying to get my pot back. She wore herself out in her panic and ended up falling asleep not far up the beach. I fed her and calmed her and brought her home. The thing is, she was right around where Petey was sleeping. I’m wondering if she had braved entering Spino territory in hopes of getting his attention? I know he misses Paula, but I think some company from another Parasaur will do Petey good. This new one is named Paprika.

That’s all that’s really happened this week. The farms are fine, we don't want for food. But don't forget to keep up on maintaining it all. Otherwise I've been taking it easy when I can. Can't be too careful with potential brain damage after all. As soon as I've mastered riding on Raven, I may go exploring again. I'll let you know how that goes.


	14. Entry 29: Going in Circles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rayne goes exploring, and returns with her findings, and her feelings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trying a little something new. Let me know what you guys think. Don't go to the imgur site... spoilers...

It’s been another week. I'm close to mastering both riding on Raven, and firing an arrow from her back. This development has made me nearly untouchable to the larger predators I used to fear. The other Raptors have gotten faster and can just barely keep up with us. I’m ready to start exploring again. Bob and Lindsay will keep the homestead safe. There’s plenty of food for the herbivores and the game is plentiful if the predators feel like hunting. Lets see what me and the Raptors can find to the west. Here’s hoping that pair of Rexes didn’t come back…

-

I’m back. I found so many beautiful places. Lush jungles, babbling brooks, gorgeous waterfalls. These sights used to take my breath away, but now when I see them, I just wonder if they're even real or they're just another part of this sick game in this forsaken place. Some day, I hope to meet the ones who built it and left me here alone. I might just feed them to Lindsay.

But anyway, I took the Raptors in a big circle. I’ll leave a sketch of the map in case your digital one isn’t up to snuff.

We began by heading west. We were able to just barely avoid the swamps between the “Footpaw” and the area labeled “The southern Jungle.” I poked around at its edges, but there’s no way in hell that I’m spending much time in a dinosaur jungle, so I stuck to the beaches. We reached the Western coast, and I got another look at the Red Obelisk. It’s just as mindblowing as the green one. This one is at very southwest corner of the whole landmass. That’s a useful hint to help you find your barings. Just seek out the obelisks.

From there, we ran north up the “Western Coast” until we reached some hilly lands called “The Western Approach.”

There, I got my first decent look at the Blue Obelisk, far to the north. It’s insane. I could see, from where I was, that the land it was hovering over was covered in snow and ice. Yet here I was, not too many miles away, on a warm tropical beach. I know weather patterns can vary in small places, but this seems ridiculous.

From the “Approach” I turned east and the Raptors and I explored our way along the river, passing along the base of a massive volcano sitting northwest of the center of the whole landmass. It’s the biggest land formation I’ve seen, aside from the obelisks of course. More importantly, I found the entrance to another cave. I didn’t go in yet. There was a big bulky looking Rex hanging out near the entrance. Seriously, he was a burly son of a gun. He looked like a total meathead jock. After taking a good look at him, I figured I would return with the Snuggle Train and chase him away.

The cave is up the hills at the base of the volcano. Once you’ve gained some height, it’s pretty easy to spot. Once I made a mark of it, we continued east along the river, and reached “The Maw.” I think the name applies to it between the volcano and another sizable mountain.

From there, we finally turned south. I had reached familiar territory near the Green Obelisk. I didn’t spot anything new as we made our way down the same route Lindsay and I used to get hoe through the “Southern Islets.” The whole trip took five days.

I've now explored large portions of the western, southern, and eastern coasts. I've found many new things, read more of the notes left by the explorers that came before me, and seen many more creatures, some big, some small, some cute, some terrifying, all of them amazing.

But I confess I've felt... empty of late.

Since my return, I’ve been ruminating on all I’ve found, and I think I’m sinking back into gloom. My dinosaur friends picked up on my depression quickly. Raven, Crow, Lindsay, and Snugglebug all spend their every waking moment nuzzling me, bringing me gifts (typically another dead animal) and laying close to me. I still love them, but I find myself envious of Helena Walker, Gaius Nerva, Mei Yin, and Edward Rockwell.

The Island that they were unceremoniously dumped in was full of people. They speak of large tribes forming and building whole villages. Hell, there were apparently enough people that Gaius Nerva was able to get a military campaign going to conquer the island.

Helena and Mei Yin have been the most interesting reads for me. Mei Yin sounds like my kind of lady. She woke up here and survived by taming the dinosaurs. Think about that. This woman hailed from ancient China. It’s hard to know if there any sorts of records of dinosaurs back then. This woman woke up and tamed the shit out of them anyway. Honestly… she sounds kinda hot. Ah. Now I know why I’m gloomy… I’m feeling lonely again.

But lets distract me from that. Despite there being so many people, she chose to be alone with her friends. Various tribes hired her (and her army of monsters) as a mercenary. She felt for her creatures too, like I did. The legionairre, Gaius, treated them like tools of war for his conquest. I wasn't a fan of him. He and Mei Yin butted heads often. Once Gaius campaign began, she was one of the only forces on the island that could stand against his armies.

Rockwell and Helena were both scientists. Helena’s modern (by my standards) attitude is always a breath of fresh air for me. I think she’s from around my time. Her notes have kept me alive. It's also her insights that have given me new ideas about how this place works. She came to the same conclusion I did. This place can't be natural. Some of the creatures here existed billions of years apart. There's an ocean of fresh water inhabited by what should be saltwater creatures like sharks, whose numbers remain steady. There's no overpopulation despite how fast a baby can mature here. Raven was birthed, hatched, and fully grown in less than two weeks. Two weeks is all it took to make a new killing machine. This place should be swarming with them. But it isn't. I wonder if human numbers are regulated as well. How?

I need help. I can't do this by myself.

But it seems I have no choice. Rockwell and Helena set out to try to solve the mystery. Gaius and Mei Yin set out to kill each other. I can't stay here. I'll follow in their footsteps. Maybe that's why this place is empty now, leaving only a few ruins and mysterious notes behind. Maybe they found a way out? Maybe they escaped? Maybe I could too? Maybe I could find them?

So that will be my new goal. I'm going to need more friends I think. There isn't much Lindsay can't handle, but a few more heavy hitters means that she's less likely to get hurt. I'll keep my eyes open for new recruits. None yet. But that's where we're at right now. I need an army, like Mei Yin had. Then I’ll conquer the caves, kill the monsters, and escape. No fucking problem (sarcastic tone definitely implied). Fuck this place.

I need another hobby. I recently learned how to mix better paints, and even color them with various ingredients. The stuff makes better ink for my writing. But I think I might also take up painting…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gotta love silly photo filters. I call this one “Lindsay’s “watchoo want hooman?” Face”


	15. Entry 30: Terrible Lizard Queen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rayne reaches a milestone.

Holy shit. Raven and I did the impossible. This passed week has been mostly about exploration. This morning, feeling a bit melancholic, I saddled up Raven, stuffed her bag with tranq arrows and food, and went for a ride, just her and me. A few hours ago, after a long and grueling battle that put all of my skills to the test, Raven and I defeated a Rex. You may now refer to me as the “Terrible Lizard Queen.”

We were out on a ride together. We’d been up and down the beaches, weaving through the brush for hours. We were on our way home when we sort of... stumbled upon her. She'd been sleeping. By no means did she sneak up on us, they can't sneak, but we did get a lot closer than I'm normally comfortable with. I spotted her huge frame from a ways off. I saw her eyes open and she shifted, pushing herself to her feet. Her eyes were fixed on us. I knew by her posture, that she was going to try and make a snack of us.

If we’d sprinted away, I know we would have escaped. But I didn’t. Maybe I wanted a fight. Maybe I had a death wish. You decided. Days spent replenishing my supply of narcotic paste and arrows, meant I had all I needed. I’ve begun adding drops of Slayer’s venom to the mix, just to add a little more potency. With one hand on the reigns, and the other holding my crossbow, Raven and I charged.

Once again, Raven proved to me what a remarkable specimen she was. The Rex just couldn't catch us. I fired arrows at every opportunity, as we darted all around the raging Rex. She even dashed right between the creature’s massive legs a few times. This Rex was less single-minded than Ghost had been. She figured out catching us wouldn't be worth the energy pretty soon and started turning to leave. But by then, I was committed to the fight. I had to lead Raven out in front of her as she retreated and fire an arrow or two to keep her attention on us.

It was grueling. After half an hour, trying to stay upright on Raven, and holding a big crossbow (sometimes one handed) my hips and abs were in absolute agony, and I could barely lift my arm.

I ended up dropping the crossbow and switching to the normal bow, which was easier on my arms, but required the use of both hands. It meant I had to do even more hip and torso work to avoid falling. If that happened, the Rex would gobble me up in a single chomp. I couldn't make any mistakes. We persisted despite my pain. Raven never wavered.

After what had to be an hour though, my body was screaming. But the angry Rex had slowed down significantly. A group of trees gave me an idea. They reminded me of my first disastrous ride on Raven. I turned her towards them with the T. Rex groggily stomping after us, bellowing in anger. I'd have seconds to get this right. I slowed Raven just enough, and jumped off her back. The Rex's mighty footfalls came closer and closer.

I yelled the order at Raven and she sprinted off to the right while I dashed to the left into the trees. The Rex hesitated for a moment, before focusing on me, the slower one, and stomping at me. It doesn't matter if it's planned or not. When a T. Rex charges at you, it’s terrifying. As it ambled closer I whistled again, Raven jumped right onto the unaware Rex's thigh, digging those claws in. Sand from its thunderous footfalls was kicked into my face as the surprised beast stumbled in surprise, there was sand in my eye, but I needed to make this shot. I strung my bow and aimed carefully. As she was turning her head to figure out the pain in her leg, I fired, and hit her right in the head.

She whipped about, trying to figure out which threat to target, I put another arrow in her and she whipped toward me. But in the chaos, she'd forgotten about the trees. Her head smacked right into one. I swear I've never seen anything like it. Some palm trees can survive a car plowing into them. They're pretty sturdy, but none are a match for an angry two-story multi ton monster. Her head hit that tree so hard the trunk snapped cleanly off the base whole thing went flying nearly ten yards.

The Rex seemed confused for a moment. Raven dislodged herself from its hip and darted to a safe distance. We watched as the tranq, combined with her new head wound, finally lead the confused beast to collapse in a heap.

Holy shit, I cannot even describe the rush I felt right then. I feel it even now. Nothing will make you feel more alive than bringing down a T. Rex with nothing but a Raptor and about a hundred arrows dipped in scorpion venom.

I had to do some rather heartless hunting after that. I needed a really big meat treat if I was going to befriend a Rex. I ended up killing a wild Parasaur. Sorry Mr. Parasaur… I tied it to Raven’s saddle, and we dragged it back to our new potential friend.

Good lord, what incredible creatures. I tried to keep my distance for safety, the same way I had with Lindsay, but I couldn’t keep myself away. I made my way right to her chest, and placed my hand on it. Her heartbeat was like thunder. Her little arms twitched in her sleep as I marveled. She was pure, furious, predatory, muscle in an incredible package. But then she stirred and I felt her muscles tensing. I darted away as her majesty awoke and pushed her imposing form to its feet.

She fixed her intelligent eyes on me and for a moment, we stared one another down. Raven darted up behind me to back me up. The rex looked away submissively. I had won. The tension dissipated. I walked towards the offering so she would see it, then I jumped on Raven’s back (just in case). She sniffed curiously at my offering, then took a good long look at me. Their eyes seriously look like the eye of Sauron. We backed off and I let her eat. When she was finished she let me walk right up to her. I leaned in and touched her snout. She actually gave me a little lick. Raven and I brought her home. Her name is Sue.

I've now conquered two of the island’s apex predators and befriended them both. There isn't anything more for me to fear. I just can't make any big mistakes.

I'll be taking some time to break Sue in and make sure she can socialize. Lindsay doesn't seem happy about her presence, but hopefully they'll get along. I just gotta make sure nobody disappears…

-

I should have known socializing a T. Rex (or getting everyone else not to freak out) wouldn't be easy. I’ve been at it for days. Lindsay and Sue don't seem to like each other. They never got to violent but they did start shoving one another. No teeth or claws, just bulk against bulk. I hate to say it, but the Rex's here have Spinosaurus beat when it comes to strength and ferociousness. Lindsay’s quicker and cleverer though. She had to back down the first time Sue tried to intimidate and push her, but the second time, Lindsay jumped to the side and shouldered Sue at just the right angle, Sue lost her balance and stumbled, eventually falling flat on top of the storage shed I’d been working on. Neither of them got treats or snuggles that night.

Next time they started growling at one another, I tried to run between them and started shouting. Sue almost stepped on me. Lindsay actually bit her to drive her back. At first Sue looked like she was about to get really mad, then she saw me there shouting at her. It was surreal to see a freaking T-Rex make a face like the one my mom’s dog made when I caught it tearing up my clothes. She stepped back and lowerd her head in what seemed to be shame.

I think she knows she made a mistake. She softened and willfully backed down after that. She got a treat for showing remorse. Lindsay got two for saving my life yet again.

Those were pretty major setbacks. I was starting to ponder if I should just lead Sue away and hope she would go back to living wild.

It was Raven who finally… "opened up" to her. Basically she started darting up and nipping at her shins until Sue gave chase. It was the same game the Raptors played with Lindsay. Soon the other Raptors joined. Lindsay did too but I'm not entirely sure it wasn't out of jealousy. The last few days, Sue, Lindsay, and Snugglebug have all begun to playfully wrestle each other. Sue has a little spot up the hill on the flatlands where she beds down after the nightly fire. Things are getting easier. I’m still mad about the shed though…

-

Ugh. More damage. I have to sleep carefully tonight. I was inside, undressing and getting ready to head up to bed. Out of nowhere something came crashing straight through my goddamn wall. The impact splintered the wood and sent shards of it everywhere. The object itself rolled about on the floor for a moment before scrambling to its feet, and peering around looking dazed and confused while I tried to figure out what the hell.

The mystery wall smasher, it turned out, was Raven. I peered quizzically out the hole in my wall. Lindsay and Sue both stood there, about fifty yards away, staring with what I swear was shock and trepidation. "Oh no! We broke the human’s house" their eyes seemed to say. I'm honestly not sure who was at fault. They were probably playing chase and Raven just got so wrapped up in running, she forgot where the house was. God I love these freaking knuckleheads.

Tomorrow I’ll patch the hole and then I think I’ll make a new painting. I have this image of Sue after we first beat her…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Took this photo years ago, not the best and looks even worse with "paint" effects, so if you can't see it, its a sleeping Rex next to a broken tree. It was the perfect angle. I had to write it in.


	16. Entry 31: Redwood Peril

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rayne details her adventures exploring the Redwood Forest and making her way through another dangerous cave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's late... I'm sleepy. Sorry for any mistakes. Will correct.

I finally have a functional design for bullets. I nearly lost my fingers experimenting with “sparkpowder” but I finally have a mix which is potent enough to fire a projectile. I need to make a metal tube and fill it with the sparkpowder, then cap it with some pointed metal. That's the part that fires. The hard part is designing the primer and rim. But anyway, I've got the basics down. I can load them into my rifle and when I pull the trigger, the rifle sets off the spark with the primer that ignites the powder in the shell and fires the bullet. I've come close a few times, but I keep getting my measurements wrong so they don’t fit my gun. It's been a long and frustrating process. But I’ve fired a single successful shot. I’m really glad a paid attention when my dad was rambling on about the second amendment, and his favorite firearms. You still take it way to far dad.

-

The bullets work. I had enough supplies to make twenty shots. On top of it, I’ve finished Sue’s basic training. I’m preparing the Snuggle Train for a big expedition. The farm, the friends, and my supplies are all good. The routine keeps us fed, well supplied, and happy.

Lindsay and Sue have been getting along a lot better, and both of them love to play with Snugglebug. I don’t think the pair of apex predators will mind acting as escorts for the Snuggle Train. With those two, I only have to worry about danger when it attacks the Raptors, but with Raven and Bluejay, I’ve got a pack of six again. They’re a lethal fighting force.

Oh! One interesting thing to note. Just some odd behavior I witnessed. I’ve talked at length about how amazing a specimen Raven has grown into. She gets stronger, faster, and smarter every day too. But despite being fully capable of destroying any of the other Raptors in a one on one fight, she still refuses to take on the Pack Leader roll when I’m not around. It’s something I found really interesting. The old ways of thinking said that the Pack Leader was always the biggest baddest member of the group. But with these Raptors, that’s not the case. All of them still follow Crow (though every so often, Hawk takes over for a time). Among Raptors, the leader seems to be decided by the amount of experience they have, rather than size or ability. Either that or its because Raven refuses to beat up her Papa or Momma…

But I digress. I’ll be stocking up on travel supplies and food. I’ll write again when I’ve got a plan.

-

Okay. I think I’ve got a route planned out. There will be three goals to this expedition. First is to make it to the cave I found near the volcano and get the artifact inside. Second is to amass as much metal and other useful supplies as I can. Third is exploration.

There’s a big island of land bordered by swamps and rivers. The map just calls it “The Redwood Forest.” I’m not really sure why, but I've been hesitant to go exploring in there. I mean I have seen birds the size of biplanes flying around, along with bears as big as an SUV, but really that's no more or less dangerous than I've already dealt with. I think it just weirds me out because it reminds me of home. I've been to the California redwood forest. I have happy memories of it. Maybe I just don’t want to ruin those memories by getting chased by monsters.

Whatever the case may be, it's high time I went exploring through the Redwood Forest. There's probably more caves, and explorer notes to find there. So I’ll be taking the Snuggle Train through it on our way to the cave. Let me sketch out my planned route.

The plan is to go around the Footpaw to avoid as much of the swamps as possible. We’ll cross the river and spend a few days exploring. Snugglebug, Lindsay, Sue, Crow, Hawk, Raven, Finch, Robin, Bluejay, and of course, our mascot, Diddy, are all in top shape and at the ready. If I don't write another entry, stay the hell out of the Redwoods. Hopefully I'll write again soon, and hopefully I won't have lost any more friends. Wish me luck!

-

It took us over a week, but we're back. I’ve got the last Green Artifact. I’d celebrate, but thanks to some notes I found, I find myself filled with trepidation… Let me just write down some details I remember from the last week.

I'll talk about the Redwood forest first. It's beautiful. But just like the rest of the island, it's super dangerous. The danger is a lot... sneakier. There's plenty of typical threats; Giant bears, Raptors, the odd Allosaurus, but the biggest threat I found, which came very close to killing me, was one I didn't even see coming.

There are creatures, they sort of look like... big cats, but not quite… Maybe more like… cat-like rodents? I don't know what they look like. Imagine if a lion and a rabid raccoon had a baby. Helena’s notes refer to the beasts as Thylacoleo.

It's plenty dangerous on its own. Big claws, big teeth, bad temper, the works. But what allowed it to almost kill me despite sitting on top of a Diplodocus two stories off the ground, and being surrounded by Raptors and two apex predators, was the fact that it specifically targeted me. And it attacked from above.

I think they climb the redwood trees, and wait up there till prey wanders by. Then they pounce. I didn't even figure out what had happened until it was all over. One minute I was sitting on Snugglebug, taking in the sights, and then I’m suddenly hit by a hairy truck that tackles me right off Sugglebug’s back. Once we hit the ground, the thing's teeth crushed my chiton armor as it set to work trying to tear me apart.

I'm lucky Raven is as fast as she is. I was too stunned to react. A few more seconds and the damn thing might have gone for my throat. Raven wasn't big enough to completely dislodge the beast, but it definitely noticed when she slammed into it, claws first. She went to pounce on its back, but it just swatted her away with one of its massive paws. The other Raptors arrived then, it lost interest in me as it began battling with them. Sue was the one who delivered the killing blow. It saw her coming and tried to bolt, but with the Raptors cutting it off, it was unable to escape. Sue snatched it clear off the ground and shook it until the squealing stopped.

It took me a while to recover from that one. You don't just stand back up after a 400 pound lion tackles you, drops you 15 feet, then starts chewing on you.

Not sure how I keep getting so lucky, but nothing was broken. I had to take some time patch up the bite on my torso. Raven got scratched too but it wasn’t deep. I patched her up, and built us a fire and we all bedded down for the night. 

So if you’re exploring the Redwoods, watch out for Thylacoleo. Keep your eyes up, but don’t stop watching the ground either. The other threat I found came from below. This time I wasn't the one who suffered. The next day we had set out, heading towards some more ruins, when I saw the freaking dirt explode as Finch walked by. A furry blur of claws appeared and leapt at her, and she was too stunned to stop it. I had my rifle in my lap, and I was able to shoot the thing dead before it hurt her too much. I climbed off of Snugglebug to get a closer look. It was basically a giant monster mole. Helena calls it Purlovia. They are basically living land mines. Walk too close to where they've burrowed, and they will burst out and start scratching. They’re tough enough that they don’t mind hunting for freaking Raptors.

Poor Finch got hit by a second one of the things a day later. She's got a few scars forming after this trip, but she's okay. Later, one of those birds tried to pluck Bluejay off the ground and carry him away, but Hawk pounced on its back and dragged it back to the ground before it could ascend out of our reach. Watch out for those birds. They're called Argentavis. They can easily carry a person away if they so choose. I've seen one carrying one of those Phiomia pig things and they weigh like... 2 or 3 hundred pounds.

After days weathering the dangers of the Redwood Forest, I found another cave entrance. That made all our bruises and scratches worth it. I decided to try and explore it right then and there, but... well I can't. I built a shelter out front and had everything ready for a cave expedition, but as I jumped on Raven’s back and we lead the Raptors inside, I noticed a strange smell. The further in I went, the more corrosive it got. After fifty feet or so I was straight up choking on the air. There’s some sort of poisonous gas in there.

I'm honestly not sure how I'm going to explore this cave. I got us out of there quick. Oddly enough, it doesn't seem to have any effect on the dinosaurs. Only me. I can't figure it out. There has to be a way to explore it, but for now I'm at a loss. I marked down its location on my map and decided I'd come back later. Maybe I'll find a gas mask or something?

In total, I spent 4 days exploring the Redwood Forest. I got a lot more information from old explorer notes, I found a bunch of metal and crystal rock around Red Peak, and I battled a wide variety of new and dangerous creatures... most of which were delicious. All in all, this was a successful trip. But then it was time to head north, towards the volcano. We slowly and carefully crossed the river, and hiked up the base of the mountain. I was preparing for a fight against that meathead of a T-rex I saw around here before, but it seemed he had moved on. We made it to the cave without any more trouble.

I built a shelter, and spent the rest of the day keeping a fire going. That gave my friends and I plenty of time to rest and bond. I tried to keep them from running around. We were on rocky and dangerous ground after all.

After a long nights sleep we were ready to go. After the last cave had claimed both Parakeet and Seagull’s lives, and nearly frozen me to death, it's safe to say was expecting the worst. But to be honest, this cave was kind of underwhelming.

Don't take that as me saying “the cave is safe.” It's not. It will kill you just as quick as the others if you aren't prepared. I rode through on Crow’s back this time. He seemed happy about. This also meant Raven was free to go as kill-crazy as she wanted without being burdened by me. Anyway we headed inside. The cave itself is pretty unremarkable. It was just few twisting tunnels and some water pits. The danger lies in its residents. Expect lots of bats, bugs, and snakes. Raven and the others were far to powerful for any of these creatures to pose a threat too. We were finished exploring in less than a day. I found the artifact, in its big green light, sitting in the middle of a little pool, which of course was filled with piranhas. I had to carefully walk along a small narrow bridge to reach it. It was labled “Artifact of the Clever.” Along it’s base was written “Wit and quick thinking may turn the odds in ones favor when nature has other plans.” No offense artifact, but I think I’ve been learning that lesson each and every day since I first woke up here. Kindly fuck off would ya?

After carefully making my way back to my pack, I did learn of a new danger. The bats carry some sort of disease, or perhaps poison? I'm not sure, I've been bitten and scratched by them before and I've never had a reaction like this. The bastard fell on me from above. He got my bare wrist (I’d had my wrist armor melted off by one of those millipedes) in his mouth and chomped down. I clawed its eyes to make it let go before tossing it to the Raptors, but after a few minutes, I started to feel violently ill.

If this happens to you, don't panic. Get yourself to safety, eat food, drink water, be healthy. It's miserable but it won't kill you unless you let it. I started coughing and wretching immediately. Chills ran through me and my head started to swim. I threw the artifact into my backpack, climbed onto Crow and we got out of the cave. I spent the rest of the evening alternating between fever, and chills. It was agony. But when I woke up the next morning, it was all over. My throat was a bit scratchy from coughing all night, but otherwise I had no other symptoms. What kind of virus hits so hard and burns up so fast? It was like some sort of “mega rabies” or something.

So the next morning I got us all packed up and we headed towards home. As we crossed the river to cut back through the Redwoods, we hit one more obstacle. We were ambushed by Allosaurus. These guys are only a bit smaller than a T. Rex, and they have less bite force, but they can potentially be more dangerous because they almost always travel in groups. There were three. They charged us from the trees right as Snugglebug and I emerged from the water after crossing the river. They came straight at us. Sue was on my right, but they were attacking from the left. It would take a bit of time for her to get around Snugglebug and join the fight. Furthermore, Lindsay had taken up the rear. She and most of the Raptors were still in the river. I had to protect Snugglebug. If they got a good-sized bite out of him, he might bleed to death.

I had to get there attention. I tore little Diddy off my shoulder and left him in the saddle while grabbing my rifle and my sword. I slid down Snugglebug’s side as quick as I could and almost shattered my shins on impact. As I did I took aim and shot one of the Allosaurus. It jerked from the blow and the noise startled all three, and they looked down at me. That's when I realized how bad a spot I was in. Why had I dismounted? I could have shot from the saddle. Now here I was staring down three plus-sized predators with an empty gun and a sword. Why do I do stupid things? Luckily my ploy worked, none of the Allosaurus got to Snugglebug. Even more luckily, Lindsay and the Raptors emerged from the water to save my stupid ass. Lindsay pounced on the nearest one and easily wrestled it to the ground. Clamping her jaws around its throat. The Raptors all swarmed over the second. The third one kept its eyes on me. “Aw crap” was all I could say.

I managed to just barely dodge its jaws as it lunged. I sliced at it once before sprinting away, shouting and trying to keep its attention , while at the same time fumbling with the sack of bullets on my belt. Reloading while running was hard. I heard the angry beast chasing after me. I wouldn't be able to reload before it caught me. My best chance was to dodge it again, so I turned to face it, but before it could reach me, Sue appeared.

Those mighty jaws of hers crunched through the Allosaurus’ head and neck like it was a candy cane. She heaved it lifelessly to the ground. I could only stand there bewildered, she'd killed the thing with a single chomp, and it only took her a few seconds.

I snapped out of it quick though. Lindsay and the Raptors were still fighting. I got my gun reloaded and sprinted after Sue as she advanced towards the second allosaurus. The Raptors were fighting smart, using hit and run tactics, keeping it off balance. But it was getting angry. If it caught one, they’d die. I ran as close as I dared, and fired my rifle right at the things throat. I could tell I'd hit something important, as it began coughing red foam, but it kept on biting at my Raptor friends. I was charging in to whack at its shins and get its attention, but Sue beat me to it. She rammed her head into the beast’s hip, sending it sprawling to the ground, where the Raptors swarmed over it. By then Lindsay had finished chewing the life out of the Allosaurus she'd been struggling with. That whole battle was… really quick. I don't know if we’re just really awesome or really lucky, but we took down three angry predators with no casualties and next to no damage. Jeez what a day.

I let them all relax there in the shores of the river. The predators ate their fill of the carcasses and I cut away and cooked as much as I could.

If it weren't for the fact that I was in constant pain, and always fighting for my life, this place would be fucking awesome. It's like… epic dinosaur fights, all day every day. Cutting through the Redwoods and the swamp allowed us to get all the way home in about two days. So this time around, the Snuggle Train successfully explored, cleared a cave and battled a number of hazards with no casualties and only superficial damage. I call that a major win. And now, I have all three artifacts for the green Obelisk.

But on our way home we stumbled on some more ruins, with notes, hidden in the swamps. It was these notes that filled me with fear. I’ve found vague references to “Gaurdians” which protect the Obelisks. Once you collect the three Artifacts… I guess the Gaurdian appears? From what these notes say, the Gaurdian of the Green Obelisk is a very very large Spider. According to Helena, an attack squad from a tribe had attempted to engage with the Gaurdian. They’d succeeded in killing it and obtaining some sort of “Trophy,” but very few returned.

I really don’t like the sound of this Gaurdian. But those guys didn't have a T. Rex on their team as far as I know. I've seen this island’s spiders. Hell we killed half a dozen on this very trip... I'm feeling pretty confident. And she did say they killed it. Maybe i won’t have to bother? Somehow I doubt that.... I can’t go in half-cocked. I’ve got material after that trip. I'm gonna take some time and work around my homestead. I’ll come up with some sort of plan to deal with this Gaurdian. I’m not letting an arachnid get the best of me… No offense Slayer.


	17. Entry 32: Operation Spider-Swat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rayne details her plan to handle the rumored "spider" guardian.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short one. Sorry about that.

I've crafted a saddle for Sue. It took a few days to learn to ride her, but it's surprisingly easy once she learns the signals. Rexes aren’t quite as sharp as a few other species I’ve tamed, but they’re still pretty damn clever.

Its been an interesting week. I’ve spent the whole time poring over everything I’ve learned so far. The previous explorers all spoke of collecting “trophies” to present at a “cave” in the Island’s volcano. Nobody really says what’s in the cave though. Gaius seemed to think gaining access would grant him the power of a god. Helena and Rockwell both believed that it was some sort of control center. I’ve seen plenty of evidence for myself that this place is artificial: the animal’s strange behavior, the landscapes suspiciously devoid of mountain’s of dinosaur poop or carcasses left behind by the many many predators, the ocean of fresh water, the bizarre supply crates that fly in on beams of light, and of course, the massive floating obelisks themselves. 

I can still barely wrap my head around it though. This place is huge. Its an entire tropical island. So is it located somewhere on the Earth? How did I get here? Is it really all technological? Whatever the case may be, I want out. I’m tired of fighting for my life, and I’m tired of chopping down trees every day.

I’m one step closer to a possible exit now. I have the three artifacts, three keys to unlock the first door. But there’s a Spider guardian between me and the prize, and I have no information on how to fight it. Call me a coward if you want, but I’m not putting my friends in danger unless I have to, so I’ve come up with a plan.

I assume the guardian will appear in that crater beneath the obelisk. There are several routes out of there. So what I’m going to do, is mount a small expiditon to call out the guardian and figure out just what the hell I’m dealing with. I’ll only be bringing one friend with me, so I won’t have to worry about keeping a large group safe during the march up or the march back. Sue is saddled and trained. Even if we end up having to fight a giant spider, I think she’s more than tough enough to fight her way passed it so we can escape. I’ve also crafted some of the best weaponry and armor I’ve ever had. I’ll have my rifle, with thirty shots, my sword, and a full set of metal plate armor to protect me.

I'm certainly nervous, but I'm confident. Sue and I work well together. I'm as ready as I'm gonna get. So I’ll move out tomorrow. Wish us luck dear reader. I’ll get there, gather the intel, and get back, then I’ll lead my little army and we’ll stomp that spider into paste.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was totally the mindset I had with the bosses...


	18. Entry ...

I'm alive. Sue is gone. I failed. I was naive. Of course this fucking Island wouldn’t play fair. It never has. How did I not see it? Of course that’s why there’s no carcasses, or shit. That’s how this place regulates its numbers. Teleportation. This is some kind of super science-fiction style structure that utilizes tech so far ahead of my time I can barely comprehend it. But even though I don’t understand how, now that I’ve seen it for myself… It makes more sense than anything. I was too arrogant to even conceive of it. I’d tamed and befriended a T-Rex. I was so convinced that nothing could touch me… I’m sorry Sue… 

I need time. I’m never going to forget the sound of Sue’s whimpers. A fucking T-rex shouldn’t whimper… But I’m stronger now… somehow I made it home…Once again, I need to decide if I’m really going to continue. Can I really face that thing again? Could I live with more dead friends on my conscience? First Ghost, now this. I'd say it can't get worse than that... But I thought the same thing when we fought ghost.

-

Please don't whimper Sue. Let me sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Right there with ya Rayne. I had no idea you got trapped with the bosses either.


End file.
